AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  OF 
CHRISTIAN    PHILOSOPHY 


CHRIST  AND  THE  CHURCH 


ESSAYS  CONCERNING  THE  CHURCH  AND 
THE    UNIFICATION    OF    CHRISTENDOM 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  THE 

REV.  AMORY  H.  BRADFORD,  D.  D. 


% 


FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 
New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


Copyright,  1895, 
by 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company. 


TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

CHARLES    F.  DEEMS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

PASTOR  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  STRANGERS,   NEW  YORK ; 

FIRST    PRESIDENT    OF    THE   AMERICAN    INSTITUTE    OF    CHRISTIAN 

PHILOSOPHY ;    A   MAN  WHO    ILLUSTRATED    IN    HIS    OWN 

PERSON   AND    MINISTRY  THE   UNITY   OF  THE 

CHURCH    OF    CHRIST, 

THIS  VOLUME   IS   LOVINGLY   DEDICATED. 


INTRODUCTION 


The  papers  composing  this  volume  were  delivered  as 
lectures  before  the  American  Institute  of  Christian  Philos- 
ophy, at  Chautauqua,  July  5-12,  1894.  The  subjects  were 
selected  because  of  the  great  and  growing  interest  in  the 
unification  of  Christendom  both  in  this  country  and  in 
England.  In  many  ways  this  interest  had  found  expres- 
sion. The  Disciples  of  Christ  had  issued  a  series  of  articles 
which  they  proposed  as  the  sufficient  basis  of  a  universal 
church.  They  were  :  "  The  Primitive  Faith,"  "  The  Prim- 
itive Sacraments,"  "  The  Primitive  Life."  Somewhat  later 
the  Chicago-Lambeth  Articles  appeared.  They  constitute 
what  is  called  "A  Quadrilateral,"  and  propose,  briefly, 
union  on  the  basis  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  Apostles' 
and  Nicene  Creeds,  the  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  the  Historic  Episcopate.  In  Great 
Britain  the  last  of  these  propositions  blocks  the  way  to 
their  serious  consideration ;  in  this  country,  however,  there 
is  a  greater  willingness  to  begin  the  consideration  of  the 
subject  with  the  Chicago-Lambeth  Declaration.  In  April, 
1 894,  the  Congregational  Association  of  New  Jersey  adopted 
a  minute  concerning  the  subject  which  has  attracted  wide 
attention.  This  has  also  been  adopted  by  many  other  State 
Associations,  and  will  come  before  the  National  Council  of 
Congregational  Churches  in  1895.     The  New  Jersey  prop- 

5 


6  INTRODUCTION 

ositions  are  as  follows:  (i)  The  Holy  Scriptures  .  .  .  the 
rule  and  ultimate  standard  of  Christian  Faith;  (2)  Jesus 
Christ  the  divine  Saviour  and  Teacher  of  the  world ;  (3) 
The  Church  of  Christ  ordained  by  him  to  preach  his  Gospel ; 
(4)  Liberty  of  Conscience  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures  and 
administering  the  Church. 

The  doctrine  of  the  church,  which  has  heretofore  been 
regarded  as  of  secondary  importance,  as  the  result  of  re- 
cent interest  in  this  subject  has  come  to  occupy  a  far  larger 
place  in  the  thinking  of  American  ministers  and  laymen. 
Probably  no  single  utterance  has  done  so  much  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  subject  as  the  remarkable  address 
on  "The  Historic  Episcopate,"  by  the  Rev.  Charles  A. 
Shields,  D.D.,  professor  in  Princeton  University.  The  pub- 
lication of  this  address  was  followed  by  a  symposium  in 
the  American  edition  of  the  Review  of  the  Churches,  to 
which  many  eminent  ministers  of  various  denominations 
contributed,  and  which  is  perhaps  as  valuable  a  collection 
of  utterances  on  this  subject  as  has  yet  appeared.  It  was 
issued  in  book  form  by  the  Christian  Literature  Company 
under  the  title  of  "  Many  Voices  Concerning  the  Historic 
Episcopate."  About  the  same  time  another  symposium 
appeared  in  the  I?idepe?ident,  to  which  most  of  the  bishops 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
contributed,  and  in  which  most  of  them  practically  took  the 
ground  that  the  question  of  unification  otherwise  than  on 
the  basis  of  the  Historic  Episcopate  and  Apostolic  Succes- 
sion is  not  even  to  be  entertained. 

During  this  discussion,  and  while  the  subject  of  the  unifi- 
cation of  Christendom  was  in  the  air,  the  course  of  lectures 
in  this  volume  was  delivered.  From  the  reception  first  ac- 
corded them,  as  well  as  from  the  importance  and  timeli- 
ness of  the  subjects  considered,  it  is  believed  that  they  will 
be  recognized  as  an  important  contribution  to  this  discus- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

sion.  The  first  lecture  is  somewhat  introductory,  and  is 
on  the  general  theme,  "The  Church  and  the  Kingdom." 
Those  which  follow  are  divided  into  three  groups :  first,"  The 
Incarnation;"  second,  "The  Church,"  or  the  "Continu.  1 
Incarnation ; "  and  third,  "The  Unification  of  Christendom." 
There  has  been  no  attempt  to  make  these  chapters  appear 
other  than  a  series  of  lectures.  They  were  prepared  without 
consultation  between  the  writers,  and  are  published  substan- 
tially as  originally  delivered.  That  they  may  contribute 
at  least  a  little  toward  bringing  together  in  one  holy  fel- 
lowship all  who  are  truly  Christians,  but  many  of  whom 
are  now  widely  separated,  and  thus  help  to  hasten  the  com- 
ing of  that  kingdom  of  truth  and  love  which  the  church 
exists  to  promote,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  those  to  whom 
was  committed  the  responsibility  of  planning  this  course  of 
lectures,  and  by  whom  it  is  now  offered  to  the  public. 

It  remains  for  me  to  add  that  these  lectures  were  delivered 
during  my  term  of  service  as  President  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Christian  Philosophy.  Since  that  time  I  have 
been  compelled  by  other  duties  to  resign  that  office,  and 
the  Rev.  Henry  M.  MacCracken,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chancellor 
of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  has  succeeded 
to  the  presidency. 

Amory  H.  Bradford. 
First  Congregational  Church, 
Montclair,  N.  J. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction.     Rev.  Amory  H.  Bradford,  D.D 5 

LECTURE 

I.  The    Kingdom   and   the  Church.     Rev.  Amory  H. 
Bradford,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 

Church  of '  Monte  lair,  N.J. 1 1 

II.  The  Incarnation  Philosophically  Considered; 
or,  Available  Living  Evidence,  as  Distin- 
guished from  the  Evidence  of  the  Gospels 
or  the  Evidence  of  Faith,  for  the  Historic 
and  Divine  Christ.  Rev.  Lewis  Lampman,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  the  High  Street  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Newark,  N.J. 33 

III.  The    Incarnation    Biblically    Considered.     Rev. 

George  T.  Purves,  D.D.,  Professor  in  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminary 5  * 

IV.  The  Incarnation  Historically  Considered.     Rev. 

Chester  D.  Hartranft,  D.D.,  President  of  Hartford 

Theological  Seminary 87 

V.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.     Rev.  George  Dana 
Boardman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,   Honorary  Pastor  of  the 

First  Baptist  Church  of  Philadelphia 135 

VI.  The  Church  and  the  Problems  of  Science  and 
Philosophy.     Rev.  Henry  M.  MacCracken,  D.D., 
Chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York.    165 
9 


io  CONTENTS 

LECTURE  PAGE 

VII.  The  Church  and  the  City  Problem.  Rev.  John  B. 
Devins,  Pastor  of  Hope  Chapel,  New  York,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Federation  of  East  Side  Workers 187 

VIII.  The  Reunion  of  Christendom  as  it  Appears  to  an 

Episcopalian.     Rev.  George  Hodges,  D.D.,  Dean  of 

the  Episcopal  Theological  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. .  .    217 

IX.  The  Reunion  of  Christendom  as  it  Appears  to  a 

Congregationalism     Rev.  William  G.  Ballantine, 

D.D.,  President  of  Oberlin  College 233 

X.  The  Reunion  of  Christendom  as  it  Appears  to  a 
Presbyterian.  Rev.  Henry  M.  Booth,  D.D.,  Presi- 
dent of  Auburn  Theological  Seminary 249 

XL  The  Reunion  of  Christendom  as  it  Appears  to  a 
Disciple.  Rev.  Benjamin  B.  Tyler,  D.D.,  Pastor 
of  the  Church  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  of  A^ew  York .  267 
XII.  The  Reunion  of  Christendom  as  it  Appears  to  a 
Foreign  Missionary.  Rev.  Gilbert  Reid,  Mission- 
ary to  the  Higher  Classes  of  China 295 


I 

THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH 

AMORY  H.  BRADFORD,  D.D., 
First  Congregational  Church,  Montclair,  N.J. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

The  most  striking  characteristic  of  the  religious  life  of 
our  time  is  what,  in  the  felicitous  phrase  of  Principal  Fair- 
bairn,  has  been  called  "  the  return  to  Christ."  There  is 
no  more  general  agreement  concerning  the  mystery  of  his 
gracious  person  than  formerly  ;  indeed,  few  thinkers  are  now 
trying  to  give  definite  answer  to  the  old  inquiry  as  to  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord.  The  importance  of  the  subject  is 
not  denied,  but  men  are  occupied  with  other,  and  to  them 
more  vital,  themes.  The  era  of  controversy  over  that  sub- 
ject has  passed.  Now  and  then  its  echoes  are  repeated, 
but  they  are  fast  dying  away.  But  while  most  thinkers  are 
not  speculating  much  about  the  mystery  of  Christ's  person, 
they  are,  with  a  unanimity  hitherto  unknown,  acknowledg- 
ing the  spell  of  his  teaching,  and  gathering  around  him  as 
the  only  one  who  offers  any  light  worth  having  on  the 
fundamental  questions  of  man's  origin,  duty,  and  destiny. 
Never  before  was  Jesus  so  truly  the  great  Teacher — all 
men's  Teacher,  the  world's  Teacher.  In  the  department  of 
theology  the  attempt  to  interpret  the  Godhead  in  the  terms 
of  "  the  consciousness  of  Christ "  is  rapidly  becoming  uni- 
versal. In  other  words,  "the  consciousness  of  Christ"  is 
recognized  as  the  only  place  where  the  Godhead  is  clearly 
revealed.  If  we  turn  to  man's  relations  with  his  brethren, 
we  find  that  almost  all  the  social  ferment  of  the  closing 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century  may  be  traced  directly  to 

13 


14  THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

the  influence  of  Jesus.  In  his  recent  book  on  "Social 
Evolution,"  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd  has  shown  that  the  growth 
of  the  altruistic  sentiment  which  is  swiftly  transforming 
society  owes  its  existence  to  religion,  and  its  supreme  power 
to  Jesus  Christ.  Mr.  Kidd  represents  the  culture  of  the 
time.  There  is  another  aspect  of  the  same  fact :  the  com- 
mon people  in  many  lands  may  be  in  rebellion  against 
the  church  as  they  know  it,  but  they  feel  that  all  their  hopes 
someway  are  bound  up  with  that  Man  of  Nazareth,  whose 
person  they  do  not  understand,  but  whom  their  social  in- 
stincts proclaim  to  be  their  true  leader.  English  "dockers" 
and  German  Social  Democrats  alike  recognize  Jesus  as 
Master.  This  is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  mod- 
ern religious  progress.  Thus  many  eyes  turn  toward  the 
Christ  as  the  one  from  whom  a  solution  of  our  social 
problems  may  be  expected. 

Among  the  questions  which  are  vexing  modern  thinkers, 
few  occupy  a  more  conspicuous  place,  or  are  more  vital 
and  far-reaching,  than  that  which  may  be  called  the  Rela- 
tion of  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  the  Church.  In  other 
days  the  appeal  was  to  councils,  assemblies,  conventions, 
to  the  fathers;  but  most  thinking  men  are  now  asking, 
Why  not  go  straight  to  Christ  ?  What  did  he  mean  by  the 
church  and  the  kingdom?  And  so  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  not  only  creeds,  confessions,  social  ideals,  laws  and 
customs,  methods  of  work,  and  rules  governing  men  in 
their  relations  one  with  another,  but  also  all  ecclesiastical 
systems,  all  assumptions  of  authority,  all  ministers,  popes, 
bishops,  priests,  and  ecclesiastics  of  every  name,  are  being 
commanded  to  render  an  account  to  the  Master  himself. 

What  is  the  Christian  interpretation  of  the  phrases  "  king- 
dom of  God  "  and  "kingdom  of  heaven,"  and  what  relation 
have  they  to  the  "reunion  of  Christendom  "  ?  In  our  dis- 
cussions concerning  the  organic  unity  of  the  church,  or  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE   CHURCH  15 

reunion  of  Christendom,  or  the  unification  of  Christendom, 
we  have  reached  a  point  where  definitions  are  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  where  great  misunderstanding  may  result 
without  them.  There  can  be  no  clear  idea  of  unification 
without  also  a  clear  idea  of  what  is  to  be  unified.  Do  we 
mean  the  bringing  into  unity  of  individual  Christians,  or  do 
we  mean  that  the  various  branches  of  the  Christian  church 
are  to  be  incorporated  into  one  organization,  so  that  they 
may  work  under  a  common  head  toward  a  common  end? 
We  mean  the  organic  unity  of  the  church,  so  that  instead 
of  a  divided  church,  composed  of  Romanists,  Greeks,  Prot- 
estants ;  instead  of  a  hundred  sects  among  both  Romanists 
and  Protestants,  there  shall  be  unity  and  cooperation.  But 
why  should  there  be  such  unity?  Is  it  possible,  and  is  it 
desirable?  These  questions  cannot  be  answered  without  a 
definite  understanding  of  what  the  church  is.  Is  it  an  end 
in  itself,  or  is  it  a  means  or  instrument  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  an  end?  If  it  is  an  end  it  has  in  it  the  elements 
of  universality  and  endurance ;  if  it  is  a  means  it  will  be 
constantly  changing,  adapting  itself  to  new  conditions,  and 
manifesting  itself  under  perhaps  a  thousand  different  forms. 
When  we  ask  what  the  church  is,  and  whether  it  is  synony- 
mous with  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  are  surprised  by  the 
frequent  answer  that  the  church  and  the  kingdom  are  the 
same.  That  answer  is  possible  only  when  there  is  a  very 
exalted  definition  of  the  church.  Are  we  ready  to  say  that 
our  distracted  and  warring  Christendom,  with  its  popes  and 
prelates,  its  pageantry  and  display,  with  its  offices,  its  bishops 
with  great  titles  and  munificent  endowments,  its  splendid 
cathedrals  and  magnificent  sanctuaries,  constitutes  the  real 
kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth,  when  our  Master  said,  "  Who- 
soever would  be  first  among  you  shall  be  servant  of  all" 
(Mark  x.  44),  and  when  he  asked  that  terribly  searching 
question,  "  How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  honor  one  of 


1 6  THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

another?"  Is  there  not  a  radical  antagonism  between  the 
prevalent  ideals  of  the  church  and  the  ideals  of  the  kingdom 
as  they  are  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament?  Are  we  ready 
to  acknowledge  that  societies  of  the  rich  and  well-to-do,  in 
which  pews  are  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  in  which  social 
distinctions  and  forms  of  etiquette  are  carefully  observed, 
in  which  there  is  no  place  for  the  poor  man  with  soiled  rai- 
ment or  black  skin,  but  ample  place  for  the  rich  man  with 
the  soiled  character  and  gold  ring,  truly  represent  the  king- 
dom of  God?  Are  we  ready  to  say  that  those  who  bear 
the  title  of  "  Lord  Bishop,"  move  about  in  splendid  state, 
and  dwell  in  ceiled  houses,  are  the  real  successors  of  those 
apostles  who  followed  closely  after  Him  who  had  not  where 
to  lay  his  head,  and  who  found  his  life  by  losing  it  ?  Are 
we  ready  to  say  that  our  systems  of  theology,  our  creeds 
carefully  formulated  and  welded  into  propositions  which 
require  philosophers  to  understand,  our  preaching — mod- 
eled as  it  is  after  the  rhetorical  schools  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  rather  than  after  the  brave  directness  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  and  often  more  in  the  form  of  heathen  orations 
than  of  personal  appeals  to  dying  men — that  these  truly  rep- 
resent Him  whose  greatest  utterance,  perhaps,  was, "  I  came 
that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  abundantly?" 
(John  x.  10.)  No,  not  any  denomination,  not  any  form  of  the 
church  as  it  now  exists,  and  not  all  forms  combined  consti- 
tute the  kingdom  of  God.  The  unity  which  we  desire  is  some- 
thing different  from  the  agglomeration  of  such  antagonistic 
elements.  In  the  ideal  church — that  which  exists  within  all 
the  denominations,  and  yet  is  independent  of  all — there  are 
the  signs  of  the  kingdom,  but  they  are  few  in  our  so-called 
churches,  which  are  all  equally  sects,  however  little  some 
may  like  to  acknowledge  it.  The  community  of  elect  souls 
who  have  the  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  form  the  ideal 
church,  and  they  constitute  the  kingdom  of   God.     Well, 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  17 

then,  what  is  it  that  we  are  seeking  to  realize :  the  unity  of 
elect  spirits  who  are  in  Christ,  and  who  day  by  day  are 
showing  forth  his  life,  or  the  unity  of  those  organizations 
which  often  misrepresent  him  ?  Are  we  appealing  for  the 
unity  of  Christians,  or  are  we  appealing  for  the  unity  of 
societies  which  only  by  courtesy  can  be  said  to  continue 
the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  We  all  believe  in  the 
real  church — the  church  of  the  elect,  the  church  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,  of  the  Golden  Rule,  of  the  law  of  love,  the 
church  of  Galilee  and  Calvary — and  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion whatever  but  what  there  is  already  more  than  a  formal 
unity  in  that.  But  many  Christians  are  not  willing  to  identify 
that  with  the  sects  which  are  known  by  various  names,  and 
which  most  who  advocate  unification  really  have  in  mind. 
Is  the  unity  of  the  church,  as  it  is,  possible  ?  Is  there  any 
basis  on  which  Roman  and  Greek,  Protestant,  Anglican, 
Quaker,  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  and  Congregationalist, 
can  all  be  brought  into  one  great  army,  under  the  com- 
mand of  one  who  shall  truly  represent  the  Master  on  the 
earth  ?  We  confess  that  as  things  now  are  we  do  not 
think  such  unity  is  possible  or  desirable ;  and  yet  we  do 
most  firmly  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  pray 
for  its  prosperity ;  but  we  want  something  other  than  the 
welding  together  of  sects.  There  must  first  be  a  return  to 
Christ.  The  company  of  the  elect  must  be  enlarged  until 
the  ideal  church  and  the  actual  church  are  identical ;  then 
there  will  be  little  need  of  efforts  toward  unity,  because  it 
will  already  be  realized.  The  divisions — ?iote  I  do  not  say 
diversity — are  all  external.  They  are  in  most  cases  the  re- 
sult of  disloyalty  to  Christ  rather  than  of  loyalty  to  him. 
They  are  the  remnants  of  barbarism  in  the  society  that  bears 
the  name  of  Christ ;  they  are  the  results  of  the  paganism 
which  conquered  the  church  when  it  was  supposed  to  have 
conquered  Rome.     These  facts  will  be  clearer  when  we 


1 8  THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

have  studied  the  biblical  teaching  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

It  is  noticeable  that  our  Master  seldom  used  the  term 
"  church  " — twice  only,  in  his  reported  words — but  "king- 
dom," with  substantially  the  same  significance,  was  often 
on  his  lips.  It  is  used  in  the  Gospels  one  hundred  and 
twelve  times  to  denote  his  society.  Plainly  with  him  the 
idea  in  the  word  "  kingdom  "  was  more  important  than  that 
in  the  word  "  church,"  for  we  cannot  think  he  ever  used 
language  carelessly.  If  he  chose  "kingdom"  rather  than 
"  church  "  it  was  because  of  a  preference.  The  two  cannot 
be  identical,  or  he  would  have  identified  them.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  our  study  of  the  kingdom  we  are  met  by-  the 
text,  "Jesus  came  into  Galilee,  preaching  the  gospel  of 
God,  and  saying,  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  at  hand."  *  Here  is  a  reference  to  something  which 
was  familiar  to  his  hearers.  Where  did  that  ideal  come 
from  ?  It  was  foreshadowed  in  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
Israel.  There  we  have  what  has  been  called  the  national 
type  of  the  kingdom  of  God — "the  kingdom  of  Jehovah, 
including  all  Israel  and  many  other  nations,  centered  in 
Jerusalem,  and  ruled  by  a  King  of  the  house  of  David, 
who  is  Jehovah's  Anointed,  or  the  Lord's  Christ."  t 

In  the  earliest  time  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  as  held  by 
the  Hebrews  was  that  of  a  nation  directly  responsible  to 
Jehovah,  who  was  their  tribal  Deity,  and  who,  it  was  be- 
lieved, sooner  or  later  would  conquer  all  the  gods  of  the 
surrounding  people.  The  prophetic  ideal  is  an  advance 
upon  the  ancient  Davidic  ideal.  According  to  the  latter, 
Jehovah  ruled  for  the  sake  of  his  own  people,  while  through 
all  the  prophets  there  runs  the  greater  note  that  Jehovah 
would  in  and  through  his  people  realize  his  "royal  rule" 

*  Mark  i.  14,  15. 

t  "  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  F.  Herbert  Stead,  p.  20. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  19 

on  the  earth.  The  kingdom  when  realized,  according  to 
the  prophetic  teaching,  would  have  the  following  features : 
"  Peace  :  war  unknown  ;  the  wealth  once  wasted  in  war  now 
used  to  increase  wealth.  Plenty:  starvation  and  poverty- 
abolished  ;  exceeding  fruitfulness  of  soil ;  abundance  of  corn 
and  wine  and  oil  and  flocks  and  herds  and  of  all  rural 
growths.  To  these  were  added  later :  Great  material  mag- 
nificence: a  profusion  of  the  most  highly  prized  products 
of  civilization.  Health :  long  life  ;  life  beyond  death ;  an- 
nihilation of  death.  Populousness :  extraordinary  multipli- 
cation of  life ;  countless  hosts  of  human  beings.  Liberty : 
intelligence.  Eternal  security  and  stability.  Righteous- 
ness universal :  public  justice,  private  rectitude,  faithfulness. 
Kindness,  gentleness,  helpfulness.  Joy  exultant,  musical, 
festal.  Worship  of  God,  public,  regular,  universal,  led  by 
an  unceasing  line  of  priests.  Knowledge  of  God :  loving 
personal  intimacy  between  him  and  every  soul  in  his  king- 
dom. Glory :  an  overspreading,  pervading  splendor ;  a 
brilliance  above  that  of  sun  or  moon ;  an  irradiation  of  the 
divine  life  and  glory.     God  everywhere  glorified."* 

Gradually  the  teaching  concerning  the  kingdom  in  the 
Old  Testament  expanded.  From  being  the  rare  possession 
of  a  few  select  spirits  it  became  the  heritage  of  the  mul- 
titude. Amos  emphasized  its  universality  and  eternity. 
Its  transcendent  character,  its  accomplishment  by  means 
of  a  sudden  interposition  from  above,  through  a  single, 
supernaturally  endowed,  superhuman  preexistent  Man,  be- 
comes very  clear  after  the  apocalypse  of  Daniel.  It  has 
permanent  and  temporary  elements.  All  the  sacerdotalism 
and  the  legalism,  all  the  priestly  codes  and  the  sacrificial 
systems,  were  temporary.  Its  universal  elements  were  its 
teaching  concerning  righteousness  and  the  divine  law.  All 
that  was  thus  predicted  by  the  prophets,  the  Master  an- 

*  "  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  F.  Herbert  Stead,  pp.  51,  52. 


20  THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

nounced  had  come.  In  order  to  understand,  however,  what 
is  implied  in  that  we  must  remember  that  formerly  the 
"  kingdom  "  embraced  the  whole  life  of  man  in  the  family 
and  in  the  state.  The  ideal  then  was  vastly  larger  than  is 
possible  in  an  age  when  the  church  and  the  state  are  sepa- 
rated. In  our  Lord's  time  the  early  Davidic  ideal  had 
given  place  to  that  of  later  prophecy,  in  which  both  the 
state  and  the  church  as  human  institutions  were  subordi- 
nated to  the  rule  of  righteousness  in  the  life  of  all  the 
people,  under  the  sovereignty  of  Jehovah,  who  was  no 
longer  a  tribal  Deity,  but  who  was  making  ready  to  bring 
all  men  under  his  sway0  When  we  turn  from  the  Old 
Testament  to  the  New  we  note  that  the  Master  came  to 
fulfil,  not  to  destroy.  The  Davidic  ideal  had  been  merged 
in  the  prophetic,  and  what  the  prophets  predicted  he  came 
to  establish. 

Let  us  now  observe  a  few  characteristics  of  this  kingdom 
as  taught  by  our  Lord.  It  has  a  vital  relation  with  the 
Creator.  From  him  it  receives  its  life.  The  King  is  the 
Father.  It  is  a  royal  household.  When  our  Master  prayed, 
"  Thy  kingdom  come,"  he  began  his  prayer  with,  "  Our 
Father."  The  kingdom,  then,  is  the  household  of  the 
Father  of  the  universe,  who  cares  for  his  children  as  he 
clothes  the  grass  and  feeds  the  raven;  who  knows  their 
wants,  who  hears  their  prayers. 

The  teaching  of  Christ  concerning  the  subjects  of  the 
kingdom  is  also  clear.  In  the  first  place,  the  word  "  king- 
dom" means  literally  "the  royal  rule  of  God,"  and  it  is 
sometimes  used  "of  the  eternal  sovereignty  of  God,  his 
government  throughout  all  time  of  every  part  of  his  crea- 
tion ;  but  chiefly,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  in 
a  narrower  and  richer  sense.  The  preparation  in  Israel  has 
shown  us  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  merely  a  divine 
reign  or  government  or  order  or  spiritual  condition,  but  also 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  21 

the  royal  rule  of  God  realized,  at  least  to  some  extent,  in 
the  responsive  attitude  of  subjects ;  a  commonwealth,  there- 
fore, or  society  or  fellowship  of  souls.  As  such  it  contains 
citizens  or  subjects,  who  have  a  certain  status  or  charac- 
ter, and  stand  in  certain  relations  to  God,  to  one  another, 
and  to  the  Christ."  *  In  the  teaching  of  the  Master,  what 
are  the  conditions  of  entrance  into  this  kingdom  ?  They 
all  refer  to  character.  "  Repent  and  believe  "  ;  "  Exceed 
the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  "  ;  "  Do 
the  will  of  God  "  ;  "  Become  as  a  little  child  "  ;  "  Re- 
ceive the  kingdom  "  ;  "  Deny  thyself  "  ;  "  Follow  Christ "  ; 
"  Lose  your  own  life."  He  then  says  that  the  kingdom  is 
already  possessed  by  those  who  are  childlike ;  by  those  who 
have  been  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake ;  that  it  is 
meant  to  include  all  nations ;  that  whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  God  is  of  Christ's  kindred.  All  these  are  signifi- 
cantly spiritual  conditions.  Whenever  he  refers  to  the 
expansion  of  the  kingdom  it  is  always  along  vital  lines. 
It  is  to  grow,  but  not  with  observation.  It  is  mysteri- 
ous. It  is  like  the  leaven,  pervasive  and  assimilative. 
Its  sacraments  are  the  simplest  possible — the  application 
of  pure  water  and  the  use  of  the  common  meal.  It  is 
the  life  of  God  in  heaven  realized  among  men  on  earth. 
It  excludes  the  wicked;  it  receives  the  righteous.  It  is 
made  up  of  those  who  do  the  will  of  God.  It  is  the  cen- 
tral theme  of  Christ's  teaching.  It  is  a  fellowship  of  souls, 
divine  and  human,  the  human  realizing  that  they  are  to 
follow  Christ  and  have  but  one  law,  and  that,  love.  The 
kingdom  has  two  characteristics — fatherhood  and  brother- 
hood. It  is  the  community  of  those  who  acknowledge 
Jesus  to  be  the  Christ,  and  who  seek  to  do  his  will.  It 
dwells  not  in  temples  made  with  hands.  It  cannot  be 
articulated  in  creeds. 

*  "  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  Stead,  p.  20. 


22  THE  KINGDOM  AND    THE   CHURCH 

The  kingdom  must  embrace  all  life — it  is  the  fellowship 
of  all  men  in  the  love  of  God  and  of  one  another.  Those 
who  are  righteous  cannot  be  righteous  in  one  sphere  alone-. 
The  scribes  and  Pharisees  were  formalists  in  religion,  but 
Christ's  righteousness  exceeds  theirs. 

I  do  not  at  this  time  enter  into  a  consideration  of  the 
relation  of  our  Master  and  his  work  to  the  kingdom.  I  am 
trying  to  bring  out  the  nature  of  the  kingdom.  The  Davidic 
ideal  was  of  a  state,  narrow  and  exclusive.  The  prophetic 
teaching  pointed  toward  a  universal  sway  in  which  righteous- 
ness would  prevail.  The  teaching  of  Christ  goes  still  farther, 
and  shows  a  community  of  righteous  spirits  recognizing  fa- 
therhood and  brotherhood,  living  the  life  of  love — a  com- 
munity which  is  to  grow  by  contact,  as  all  life  grows  ;  some- 
thing which  is  independent  of  forms  and  ceremonies  and 
states ;  something  which  is  itself  the  divine  life,  and  which 
creates  all  the  means  which  it  will  use  for  its  own  advance- 
ment. "  Such  was  the  contribution  of  Jesus  toward  the  shap- 
ing of  the  future  character  of  his  church.  He  provided  for 
it  no  ecclesiastical  constitution,  issued  no  authoritative  in- 
structions concerning  forms  of  church  government,  clerical 
offices  and  orders,  or  even  worship.  These  he  left  to  be 
determined  by  the  self-organizing  life  of  the  society.  He 
concerned  himself  with  the  spirit,  believing  that  if  that  was 
right  all  would  be  right.  He  taught  the  apostles  humility, 
brotherly  equality,  charity,  patience,  concord,  and  for  the 
rest  left  them  to  their  discretion.  Neither  of  the  three  forms 
which  ecclesiastical  organization  has  assumed  is  either  justi- 
fied or  condemned  by  his  instructions.  Prelacy  is  possible 
under  Presbytery,  humility  is  compatible  with  Episcopal 
dignity,  and  catholicity  is  not  irreconcilable  with  Congre- 
gationalism." * 

When  we  come  to  the  teaching  of  the  apostles  concern- 

*  "  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  Bruce,  p.  270. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  23 

ing  the  kingdom,  we  find  that  they  put  more  emphasis 
upon  the  church.  "  The  word  'church '  occurs  in  the  Acts 
and  the  Epistles,  including  the  Apocalypse,  exactly  the 
same  number  of  times  as  '  kingdom '  in  the  Gospels — one 
hundred  and  twelve ;  while  '  kingdom '  appears  in  only 
twenty-nine  cases."  *  That  is  probably  because  they  were 
men,  and  it  is  always  easier  to  emphasize  the  institution  than 
that  which  the  institution  represents.  But  there  is  never 
any  contradiction  of  the  teachings  of  the  Master,  and  with 
the  apostles  "  kingdom  "  is  always  the  larger  and  more  in- 
clusive word.  In  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  the  church  is 
always  the  local  society  of  believers  to  whom  the  apostles 
are  writing  or  of  whom  they  are  speaking.  There  is  no 
evidence  of  any  interrelation  between  those  widely  scat- 
tered Christian  communities.  They  were  companies  of 
those  who  had  common  interests,  and  who  were  seeking  to 
know  the  truth  as  it  was  in  Jesus.  The  other  idea  which 
we  find  in  the  Epistles  is  of  a  future  kingdom  which  shall 
appear  at  the  second  advent  of  the  Christ.  "  The  idea  of 
the  kingdom  as  a  thing  already  existing  on  earth  is  not 
wholly  absent,  but  is  only  seldom  expressly  cited."  Gradu- 
ally in  the  teachings  of  Paul  there  is  developed  a  new  idea, 
or  at  least  there  is  a  decided  change  in  the  phraseology. 
With  him  Christ  was  everything.  He  said  of  himself  that 
he  had  been  crucified  with  Christ  and  that  he  lived  in  him, 
and  that  to  be  a  subject  of  the  kingdom  was  to  be  in  Christ. 
Surely  by  that  he  meant  something  different  from  member- 
ship in  a  local  society.  According  to  Paul  the  subjects  of 
the  kingdom  were  in  some  way  included  in  the  personality 
of  Christ,  and  the  extension  of  that  personality  to  believers 
was  the  extension  of  his  kingdom.  Again,  consider  the 
great  text,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  .  .  .  righteousness 
and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."     That  surely  is 

*  "  The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology,"  p.  519. 


24  THE  KINGDOM  AND    THE   CHURCH 

not  synonymous  with  any  external  and  visible  society ; 
and  cannot  be  translated  into  these  words:  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  an  organization  with  a  bishop  and  elders  and 
deacons,  whose  condition  is  baptism,  and  whose  highest  act 
of  worship  is  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Again, 
Paul  says,  "  Our  citizenship  is  in  heaven."  And  so  the 
thought  moves  on,  and  his  teaching  may  perhaps  be  con- 
densed as  follows :  "  What  Jesus  meant  by  the  kingdom  of 
God  reappears  substantially  (i)  under  the  same  name,  and 
also  under  the  figures  of  (2)  the  Human  Organism  (the  Body 
which  is  Christ);  (3)  the  Home  of  the  Adopted;  (4)  the 
Realm  of  the  Justified;  (5)  the  Reign  of  Grace;  (6)  the 
Heavenly  Citizenship."  * 

From  these  considerations  it  is  clear  that  "  church  "  and 
"kingdom"  are  not  synonymous  words.  The  church 
was  the  ecclesia — was  to  Christians  what  the  synagogue 
was  to  Jews.  We  do  not  mean  that  that  was  all  that 
it  was  ever  intended  to  be,  but  that  is  all  it  was  at  first, 
and  there  are  no  hints  in  the  New  Testament  of  its 
future  development.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  the  grand 
and  glorious  ideal.  It  is  "the  royal  rule"  of  God;  it  is 
sometime  to  fill  the  earth,  to  embrace  all  spheres  of  life ; 
its  characteristics  are  fatherhood,  brotherhood,  love,  and 
"  the  realization  of  righteousness  in  the  life  of  humanity."t 
This  was  the  good  news  which  the  prophets  predicted, 
the  Master  proclaimed,  and  the  apostles  preached.  The 
church,  on  the  other  hand,  so  far  as  it  may  be  traced, 
is  an  evolution  of  one  phase  of  the  kingdom.  The  king- 
dom was  preached  ;  the  message  was  accepted ;  the  Christ 
was  obeyed ;  and  those  who  were  of  one  heart  and  one 
mind  naturally  came  together.  So  far  as  they  had  the 
common  life  they  were  one,  but  it  was  inevitable  that  the 

*  "  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  Stead,  p.  37. 
t  "  The  Republic  of  God,"  Mulford. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  25 

kingdom  should  attract  some  because  it  pleased  their  in- 
tellects. Many  gave  to  it  intellectual  adherence  who  would 
not  yield  their  wills  to  its  sway.  From  the  first,  there- 
fore, there  were  those  in  the  church  who  were  not  in  the 
kingdom — the  apostle  reproved  the  Corinthians  because 
of  their  unseemly  conduct  at  the  celebration  of  the  Sup- 
per. The  church  grew  faster  than  the  kingdom.  From 
the  beginning  some  were  in  the  kingdom  who  were  not 
in  the  church,  as  there  were  those  in  the  church  who 
were  not  in  the  kingdom.  "  Kingdom "  is  the  larger 
word.  The  church  is  one  of  many  instruments  by  which 
the  kingdom  is  to  be  advanced.  If  the  inquiry  now  arises 
as  to  whether  the  church  is  on  a  level  with  other  instru- 
ments, we  reply  that  the  ideal  church  is  the  kingdom  in 
the  phase  of  "  its  corporate  self-consciousness  " ;  that  it  is 
composed  of  those,  and  those  only,  who  are  in  the  king- 
dom, who  are  conscious  of  the  fact,  and  who  are  seeking 
to  make  the  kingdom  prevail.  As  Principal  Fairbairn  has 
expressed  it,  "  The  church  is  the  kingdom  seen  from  below, 
and  the  kingdom  is  the  church  seen  from  above."*  "  Pol- 
ity is  not  of  its  essence ;  saints  and  souls  are."  t 

This  study  has  brought  us  to  the  following  conclusions : 
1 .  The  kingdom  is  not  an  institution ;  it  is  an  organism. 
It  is  not  like  any  existing  state.  It  is  not  like  the  old 
Jewish  Church,  and  surely  as  little  resembles  the  Roman 
Church,  with  its  imperial  pretensions  and  bewildering  forms. 
It  has  nothing  corresponding  to  the  sacrifices,  the  priest- 
hood, the  temple.  It  concerns  character  and  the  inner  life 
of  man,  and  the  world  only  as  that  inner  life  articulates 
itself  in  righteousness,  faith,  and  love.  Here  we  must  be 
careful  to  make  our  meaning  plain.  Form  is  essential. 
The  kingdom  required  embodiment.     It  was  more  than  a 

*  "  The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology,"  p.  528. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  510. 


26  THE  KINGDOM  AND    THE   CHURCH 

dream.  What  we  contend  is  that  it  is  embodied  in  a  truly 
spiritual  church,  not  in  our  ecclesiastical  societies.  Life 
always  tends  to  form,  and  it  always  manifests  itself  through 
form.  The  life  is  in  all  the  denominations,  working  to 
shape  its  own  form,  and  sometime  it  will  do  so ;  but  it  is 
not  correct  to  call  the  denominations  the  church.  In  the 
kingdom  there  must  be  unity ;  there  is  little  in  the  denomi- 
nations. When  the  form  is  the  true  expression  of  the  life, 
the  kingdom  and  the  church  will  be  coordinate.  Institu- 
tions are  necessary,  but  to  be  enduring  they  must  be  vital 
— the  outgrowth  of  the  divine  life,  and  not  mechanisms 
built  around  it.  The  kingdom  is  not  an  institution,  and 
yet  it  uses  institutions ;  it  grows  into  them  as  the  life  in 
nature  grows  into  flowers  and  forests.  "  The  identity  of 
church  and  kingdom  is  not  absolute,  but  relative  only. 
The  two  categories  do  not  entirely  coincide,  even  when  the 
church  as  a  visible  society  is  all  it  ought  to  be — its  mem- 
bers all  truly  Christian  in  faith  and  life.  The  kingdom  is 
the  larger  category.  It  embraces  all  who  by  the  key  of  a 
true  knowledge  of  the  historical  Christ  are  admitted  within 
its  portals  ;  but  also  many  more  :  the  children  of  the  Father 
in  every  land  who  have  unconsciously  loved  the  Christ  in 
the  person  of  his  representatives — the  poor,  the  suffering, 
the  sorrowful.  For  such  no  apostle  or  church  officer  opens  the 
door ;  the  Son  of  man  himself  admits  them  into  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."* 

2.  The  church  as  now  existing  and  clearly  visible  is  an 
institution,  or  a  series  of  institutions,  and  not  an  organism. 
At  first  it  was  composed  of  those  who  accepted  the  teach- 
ing of  Christ  and  his  apostles  concerning  the  kingdom. 
At  present  what  is  called  the  church  shows  many  signs  of 
degeneration.  To  acknowledge  this  is  to  exalt  the  church, 
since  we  maintain  that  when  the  visible  society  is  once  more 

*  "  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  Bruce,  p.  265. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  27 

composed  of  those,  and  those  only,  who  have  the  mind  of 
Christ,  "  the  kingdom  will  be  the  church  seen  from  above, 
and  the  church  the  kingdom  seen  from  below." 

3.  As  the  number  of  Christians  increased,  organization 
began.  The  simplicity  of  the  earlier  Christian  life  was 
quickly  invaded  by  two  forces:  one  came  from  the  old 
Jewish  faith,  and  tended  to  introduce  Jewish  forms  and 
ceremonies ;  the  other  culminated  in  the  practical  absorp- 
tion of  Christianity  by  the  Roman  empire,  and  flooded 
the  infant  church  with  the  theories  and  ideals  of  pagan 
civilization.  From  that  time  the  spiritual  conception  of 
the  kingdom  was  lost.  The  identification  of  the  kingdom 
and  the  church  with  the  visible  society  bearing  Christ's 
name  is  a  pagan  conception.  The  growth  of  ritual  and 
of  ecclesiasticism  has  not  been  so  much  from  the  divine 
life  as  from  the  Jewish  and  pagan  life,  which  intruded 
themselves  into  the  place  which  belonged  to  Christ. 
The  church  within  the  church  during  all  these  Christian 
centuries  has  been  trying  to  slough  off  its  heathen  skin. 
But  the  divine  life  has  been  slowly  and  surely  asserting 
itself,  and  in  our  time,  more  than  in  any  since  the  apostles, 
Christians  recognize  that  the  kingdom  is  the  ideal;  that 
the  church  is  the  means  by  which  the  kingdom  is  to  be 
advanced;  that  the  real  church  cannot  be  defined  in  the 
terms  of  any  religious  society  now  existing;  and  that,  be- 
fore it  can  be  thus  defined,  what  is  commonly  called  the 
church  must  become  more  Christian,  more  truly  the  real 
church,  which  is  ever  the  kingdom  in  manifestation. 

4.  If  what  has  been  said  is  true,  it  follows  that  the  church 
is  divine  only  as  the  state  and  the  family  are  divine.  The 
state  and  the  family  are  not  eternal,  nor  destined  to  be  uni- 
versal in  their  sway.  The  ideal  state  is  one  form  of  the 
manifestation  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  the  ideal  family  is 
another  form ;  and  the  ideal  church  is  still  another  form. 


28  THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

The  state  may  manifest  the  kingdom  of  God  without  the 
element  of  self-consciousness,  and  so  may  the  family ;  but 
the  church  is  the  self-conscious  manifestation  of  the  king- 
dom. The  kingdom  may  be  advanced  by  science  and  by 
art  as  well  as  by  the  church;  but  science  and  art  do  not 
exist  primarily  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom,  while  the 
church  does. 

5.  Only  as  the  church  is  devoted  to  the  advancement  of 
the  kingdom  does  it  fulfil  its  function ;  when  it  seeks  any- 
thing for  itself  it  is  false  to  the  kingdom.  It  is  as  true  of 
the  church  as  of  individuals  that  "  he  that  would  save  his 
life  must  lose  it."  Denominational  selfishness  is  as  perni- 
cious as  individual  selfishness.  In  so  far  as  liturgies  and 
polities  are  manifestations  of  the  divine  life  they  are  of 
value,  and  helps  to  the  kingdom ;  but  in  so  far  as  they 
are  simply  the  expression  of  esthetic  sense,  or  desire  for 
power,  they  are  worldly,  and  hindrances  to  the  kingdom. 
The  kingdom,  which  is  the  divine  life  in  humanity,  can 
never  develop  into  anything  which  is  in  antagonism  with 
itself.  The  visible  church  is  composed  of  sects.  No  one 
sect  has  any  more  right  than  another  to  call  itself  the 
church.  The  Roman  and  the  Anglican  are  as  truly  sects 
as  the  Primitive  Methodist  and  the  Plymouth  Brethren. 
Historic  continuity  is  not  necessarily  divine  development. 
It  is  a  serious  question  how  much  of  the  machinery  and 
how  many  of  the  forms  of  worship  of  our  time  have  any 
relation  to  the  life  of  God  as  it  was  in  Christ  Jesus.  That 
life  is  spirit ;  it  is  manifested  only  by  holiness  ;  it  cannot  be 
communicated  through  material  channels ;  it  is  not  depen- 
dent on  physical  touch.  Whatever  gives  that  life  freer  pas- 
sage is  of  God ;  whatever  attracts  attention  to  itself  and 
away  from  that  life  is  of  man. 

6.  It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church  must  change  with  the  expansion  of  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  29 

kingdom.  In  the  nature  of  things,  as  time  advances  and 
localities  are  different,  the  means  by  which  men  may  be 
induced  to  accept  the  royal  sway  of  God  must  of  them- 
selves be  different.  Character  is  not  the  same  in  India 
as  in  Greenland :  zones  have  much  to  do  with  conduct. 
Mountaineers  differ  physically,  mentally,  and  spiritually 
from  those  who  live  in  valleys.  Fertility  of  soil  breeds  one 
class  of  men ;  hard  and  barren  fields  another  class.  Cities 
present  conditions  of  existence  unknown  in  country  districts. 
One  century  is  not  like  another.  The  nineteenth  century  is 
to  the  first  as  a  youth  to  a  child.  The  year  3000  will  be  to 
the  year  2 000  as  a  full-grown  man  to  a  growing  youth.  Con- 
ditions constantly  change,  and  the  divine  life  always  adjusts 
itself  to  its  environment.  Consequently  it  cannot  be  sup- 
posed that  there  is  any  one  divine  order  of  church  polity, 
or  any  one  element  of  polity  which  can  very  long  endure. 
The  episcopate  may  be  best  for  to-day,  but  who  can  tell 
whether  it  will  be  best  for  to-morrow  ?  Independency 
may  be  best  for  one  class  of  people,  but  he  would  be  pre- 
sumptuous who  would  assert  that  it  is  best  for  all  classes. 
That  is  always  nearest  the  divine  ecclesiastical  order  which 
best  allows  the  divine  life  to  manifest  itself  and  do  its 
work. 

7.  We  have  a  hint  of  what  will  be  realized  when  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  fully  come.  Then  all  who  are  Christ's 
will  be  "  kings  and  priests  unto  God  "  ;  then  all  will  have 
entered  into  the  meaning  of  the  great  text  of  St.  John,  "  Ye 
have  an  annointing  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all 
things."  I  confess  the  more  I  study  this  subject  the  more  I 
am  led  to  believe  that  all  our  forms  of  polity  are  ephemeral. 
They  are  like  the  scaffolding  around  a  cathedral ;  they  are 
not  the  real  church.  The  first  time  I  visited  Cologne 
the  scaffolding  was  more  conspicuous  than  the  spires,  but 
the  last  time  I  was  there  the  scaffolds  had  disappeared, 


30  THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH 

and  the  spires,  magnificent  and  splendid,  lifted  themselves 
toward  the  heavens.  So  it  seems  to  me  are  what  we  call 
our  churches.  When  individuals  are  dominated  by  the 
Christ  there  will  be  no  need  of  churches  or  creeds  or  sac- 
raments or  ministry.  Did  not  the  Apostle  have  something 
like  this  in  his  mind  when  in  the  vision  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem he  saw  no  temple  therein?  And  yet  I  would  speak 
carefully  here,  for  I  do  not  mean  to  liken  the  church — but 
only  the  denominations— to  scaffolding,  for  surely  the  Mas- 
ter founded  the  church  and  gave  to  it  his  life.  It  is  divine. 
It  manifests  God.  Its  lines  are  not  coordinate  with  those 
of  the  kingdom,  because  it  is  the  kingdom  in  one  phase  of 
its  manifestation.  The  real  church  is  the  kingdom  as  it  is 
manifest,  and  the  glorified  church  the  kingdom  trium- 
phant ;  but  the  denominations  are  all  of  them  scaffolds  built 
by  man.  When  they  disappear  the  glory  of  the  kingdom 
will  be  distinctly,  if  not  completely,  visible  in  the  church. 

Finally,  the  Lambeth  Articles,  like  those  which  have  been 
put  forth  by  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  may  suggest  temporary 
expedients  by  which  the  kingdom  for  a  little  while  may  be 
more  swiftly  advanced.  If  so,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  Chris- 
tians to  give  to  them  earnest  and  serious  consideration,  and 
so  far  as  they  may  be  made  to  help  the  advancement  of 
the  kingdom  to  adopt  them,  recognizing  the  scandal  of  the 
present  divided  state  of  Christendom,  but  never  expecting 
that  any  expedient — which  in  the  nature  of  the  case  is  only 
transitory — can  be  a  substitute  for  the  life  of  God  in  man  and 
in  society. 

We  conclude,  then,  that  the  church,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
composed  of  those  in  the  kingdom,  is  divine.  In  that 
church  there  is  already  of  necessity  perfect  unity.  Those 
who  have  Christ  see  face  to  face  and  work  hand  in  hand. 
Division  and  discord  are  sure  signs  of  the  absence  of  the 
divine  life.     We  may  best  promote  the  kingdom,  and  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AND   THE  CHURCH  31 

only  real  and  enduring  unity,  by  opening  our  hearts 
to  the  life  of  God  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  helping 
others  to  do  so.  Some  things  can  be  made  one  by  weld- 
ing ;  others  only  by  growing.  Christian  union  must  be  a 
growth.  Church  union  without  Christian  union  will  make 
more  scandals  than  it  will  cure.  Only  vital  unity  is  desira- 
ble, and  only  that  will  be  enduring.  The  kingdom  of  God 
is  the  "  goal  of  history,"  the 

"  One  far-off  divine  event 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

It  was  among  men  when  the  God-man  walked  in  the 
flesh ;  it  is  in  all  men  in  whom  he  dwells.  His  prayer  will 
be  answered,  and  his  kingdom  will  come,  when,  not  one 
man  only,  nor  many  men,  but  when  humanity  has  reached 
the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ. 


II 

THE  INCARNATION  PHILOSOPHICALLY  CON- 
SIDERED ;  or, 

AVAILABLE    LIVING    EVIDENCE,   AS   DISTINGUISHED    FROM  THE 
EVIDENCE  OF  THE  GOSPELS  OR  THE  EVIDENCE  OF  FAITH, 
FOR   THE   HISTORIC   AND    DIVINE    CHRIST. 

LEWIS  LAMPMAN,  D.D., 
High  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  N.J. 


33 


II 

THE  INCARNATION  PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED 

I  propose  to  try  to  formulate  an  argument  for  the  per- 
son of  Christ  that  does  not  depend  mainly  on  gospel  his- 
tory or  the  evidence  of  faith.* 

The  age  is  skeptical  of  so-called  historical  evidence,  and 
the  evidence  of  faith  is  not  available  for  the  man  who  does 
not  believe.  Discarding  these,  what  is  left  on  which  one 
can  build  an  argument  for  both  the  human  and  the  divine 
Christ  ?  What  is  the  present  living  evidence  that  does  not 
depend  on  Scripture  history  and  the  evidence  of  faith  for 
the  life  and  claims  of  Jesus  Christ? 

Caesar  and  Napoleon  lived  and  attracted  the  attention 
of  their  times.  Socrates  and  Savonarola  lived,  so  history 
says.  But  what  is  left  over  of  these  lives  ?  What  is  the 
actual  amount  of  survival  on  which  we  can  put  our  finger 
— which  we  can  count  as  an  actual,  available  material  or 
moral  asset  ?  Now,  is  Jesus  of  Galilee  like  those  who  pre- 
ceded him  and  like  most  who  have  followed  him — simply 
a  memory,  an  historical  shadow  ?  What,  if  anything,  is  left 
that  creates  obligations  now  and  here  ? 

*  This  line  of  argument  was  begun  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and 
has  been  extended  by  Horace  Bushnell,  Dr.  John  Young,  Lyman  Ab- 
bott, and  Newman  Smyth.  There  is  no  claim  to  any  originality — not 
even  in  its  particular  application.  I  have  simply  put  together  what 
others  have  formulated. — L.  L. 

35 


36  THE  INCARNATION 

To  the  question,  What  survives  ?  I  answer : 

i.  His  life  survives.  It  survives  as  the  life  of  no  other 
person  that  has  ever  lived  survives.  It  is  recognized  now 
as  an  example  of  exalted  and  perfect  manhood ;  it  is  both 
power  and  inspiration.  The  Gospels,  indeed,  drew  its  out- 
line, and  without  them  this  new  evidence  could  never  have 
been  developed ;  but  into  it  has  been  breathed  the  breath 
of  life,  and  it  has  become  a  living  soul,  with  a  power  inde- 
pendent of  the  Gospels,  and  with  a  life  of  its  own  that  would 
survive  the  loss  of  the  Gospels. 

The  fact  is  that  Jesus  of  Galilee  lived  a  life  so  extraordi- 
nary that  men  have  not  forgotten  it.  It  was  a  universal  life. 
It  was  not  simply  fitted  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived ;  it  is 
as  much  a  pattern  in  the  nineteenth  century  as  it  was  in  the 
first.  It  was  not  simply  adapted  to  the  race  from  which  he 
sprang ;  it  is  as  much  a  pattern  for  the  Gentile  as  for  the 
Jew ;  for  the  dreamy  Oriental  as  for  the  bustling,  feverish 
life  of  the  Occident ;  for  a  woman  as  for  a  man.  No 
bounds  of  race  or  country  or  time  limited  it.  It  was  a 
universal  life,  fitted  to  every  age,  to  every  people,  and  to 
every  clime. 

This  life,  then,  as  a  pattern  and  inspiration,  survives. 
It  is  not  a  memory ;  it  is  an  actual  existing  thing  which  a 
man  can  see  and  feel.  "  In  his  name  "  is  the  motto  of  the 
Christian  world.  By  the  power  of  it  Livingstone  gave  his 
life  for  Africa,  and  under  its  inspiration  men  are  pressing 
forward  to  take  the  place  left  vacant  by  Mackay  of  Uganda  ; 
and  in  Christian  lands  men  are  consecrating  time  and 
labor  and  goods  to  establish  the  influence  of  the  name 
over  all  the  earth ;  it  is  the  sweetest  lullaby  that  mothers 
sing  to  their  babes.  It  is  the  sign  by  which  dying  men 
conquer;  and  through  it  sobs  are  hushed  and  hearts  are 
kept  from  breaking.  The  old  song  we  sing  is  literally 
true: 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  37 

"  There  is  no  name  so  sweet  on  earth, 
No  name  so  sweet  in  heaven — 
The  name  before  his  wondrous  birth 
To  Christ  the  Saviour  given." 

Says  Lyman  Abbott :  "  The  influence  of  most  men  dies 
with  them ;  if  in  some  few  instances  it  survives,  it  grows 
less  and  less  as  the  years  pass  on — first  a  power,  then  an 
influence,  then  only  a  memory.  Of  whom  is  not  this  true, 
if  we  except  Jesus  of  Nazareth?  In  this  case  the  reverse 
is  true."  Says  Newman  Smyth :  "  The  influence  of  Jesus 
is  a  perpetual  influence ;  in  his  name  is  named  whatever  is 
most  worthy  our  consecration  of  power,  our  devotion  of 
heart,  our  endless  endeavor  of  life."  He  is  not  a  mere 
memory:  he  is  a  magnificent  force  at  present.  He  lived 
a  life  so  extraordinary  that  men  cannot  forget  it,  and  new 
centuries  only  bring  new  wonder  and  catch  new  inspiration 
from  it. 

What  Jesus  is  as  an  existing  personal  force  is  easily  illus- 
trated. We  can  forget  Alexander  and  Socrates  and  Antoni- 
nus ;  we  can  forget  them,  and  lose  little  by  our  forgetting. 
But  suppose  this  world  should  forget  Jesus  of  Galilee  ? 
Suppose  it  should  keep  all  of  his  philosophy  and  teaching, 
and  should  forget  the  man  Jesus,  so  that  his  life  would  not 
survive — what  then  ?  Why,  it  would  blot  out  the  Chris- 
tian church.  It  would  break  up  all  distinctively  Christian 
organizations,  end  missions  at  home  and  abroad,  and  turn 
the  whole  world  backward.  I  affirm  that  it  is  the  person  of 
Jesus  of  Galilee — the  actual  living  personality — that  is  the 
power  that  underlies  every  Christian  thing,  and  not  simply 
his  teaching.  The  inspiration  of  the  world,  the  civilization 
of  this  nineteenth  century,  are  not  so  much  from  the  words 
of  Christ  as  from  the  person  of  Christ.  Neither  in  Egypt, 
nor  in  Persia,  nor  in  India,  nor  in  China,  is  either  religion 
or  philosophy  wanting.     Some  of  the  hymns  of  the  Vedas 


3§  THE  INCARNATION 

sound  like  our  penitential  psalms.  The  lack  of  these 
nations  is,  that  they  have  not  the  knowledge  of  and  the 
inspiration  from  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ. 

His  life  has  changed  and  is  changing  the  world.  A  sim- 
ple lesson  in  geography  will  illustrate  it.  In  the  words  of 
James  Russell  Lowell,  "  There  isn't  a  decent  place  on  God's 
earth  that  hasn't  been  made  decent  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 

Explain  it  as  you  will,  you  cannot  explain  away  the  fact 
that  this  son  of  a  carpenter,  this  untaught  Galilean,  this 
man  who  was  crucified  outside  of  the  wall  of  Jerusalem, 
has  revolutionized  the  world,  and  that  after  nineteen  cen- 
turies he  continues  his  leadership  unimpaired.  His  life  is 
making  men  patient  under  wrong ;  developing  self-restraint 
and  making  liberty  possible ;  tempering  justice  ;  and  chang- 
ing equality  and  fraternity  from  a  dream  into  a  reality.  For 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  not  only  the  author  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  but 
he  is  the  power  by  which  that  doctrine  is  being  transmuted 
into  life. 

And  the  present  power  of  the  life  of  Jesus  is  recognized 
by  unbelievers  as  well  as  by  those  who  accept  him.  Says 
John  Stuart  Mill :  "  Whatever  else  may  be  taken  from  us 
by  rational  criticism,  Christ  is  still  left ;  a  unique  figure,  not 
more  unlike  all  his  precursors  than  all  his  followers."  Says 
Lyman  Abbott  from  the  Christian  side :  "  He  still  marches 
at  the  head  of  humanity;  and  the  world  after  eighteen 
centuries  has  much  to  learn  before  it  has  learned  him,  and 
much  to  do  before  it  becomes  like  him.  .  .  .  He  died  in 
darkness  and  amid  scorn  and  contumely.  The  religion  of 
Judea,  the  culture  of  Greece,  the  power  of  Rome,  knew 
him  not.  The  few  faithful  friends  who  still  clung  to  his 
memory  were  not  too  many  to  be  contained  in  one  upper 
chamber.  To-day  his  name  fills  the  world.  .  .  .  And  the 
last  eighty  years  sees  a  greater  accession  to  his  followers 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  39 

than  the  total  growth  of  all  the  eighteen  hundred  years 
which  preceded.  The  scoffs  and  sneers  of  infidelity  are 
silenced  not  by  the  arguments  of  Christian  scholars,  but  by 
the  character  of  Christ  himself.  And  Renan,  Hooykaas, 
and  John  Stuart  Mill  join  in  ascriptions  of  honor  to  his 
name,  and  in  expressions  of  gratitude  for  his  influence." 

You  ask,  then,  What  survives  of  Jesus  of  Galilee  ?  and 
I  answer,  his  life  survives.  He  lived  a  life  so  extraordinary 
that  men  cannot  forget  it.  And  it  is  not  a  memory.  It 
has  become  a  vital,  a  living  thing ;  a  force  in  this  world 
that  has  to  be  estimated.  His  life  survives — a  pattern  and 
an  inspiration  to  the  world. 

2.   In  the  second  place,  his  authority  as  a  teacher  survives. 

We  may  be  indebted  to  history,  and  to  gospel  history 
especially,  for  the  fact  that  Christ  won  his  way  to  the  posi- 
tion of  a  recognized  leader  and  teacher,  and  that  he  has 
held  it  for  nineteen  hundred  years ;  but  we  are  indebted  to 
no  history  for  the  tremendous  fact  that  he  holds  the  place 
of  the  recognized  leader  and  teacher  of  the  civilized  world 
to-day,  and  that,  too,  with  no  signs  of  any  impairment  of 
his  authority,  but,  on  the  contrary,  with  increasing  author- 
ity. That  fact  neither  depends  on  the  Gospels  nor  on 
faith.  It  is  one  of  the  noisy,  living,  and  demonstrative 
facts  of  the  present.  And  is  there  any  question  as  to  the 
fact  ?  Where  is  the  court  of  last  appeal  in  any  question  of 
religion  or  morals?  If  in  any  controversy  on  these  mat- 
ters there  can  be  found  a  clear  and  undoubted  statement 
of  Christ,  or  a  deciding  act  of  Christ,  is  not  the  matter 
settled  ?  Not  only  is  there  no  dissent  among  the  actual 
followers  of  Christ,  but  four  hundred  millions  of  nominal 
Christendom  accept  it  as  final. 

Who  turns  to  Socrates  or  Plato  to  settle  the  moral  or 
spiritual  controversies  of  the  age  ?  Such  an  appeal  would 
be  laughed  out  of  court.    And  yet  only  five  hundred  years 


40  THE  INCARNATION 

later  than  these — nineteen  hundred  years  ago — a  man  comes 
out  of  a  humble  shop  in  Nazareth  and  declares  to  the 
wondering  crowd,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world,"  and  pro- 
claims the  doctrines  which  men  were  to  believe  and  teach. 

The  centuries  have  come  and  gone  since  then.  The  lit- 
tle country  that  was  his  home,  and  once  the  center  of  the 
world,  is  far  one  side,  and  with  no  place  or  rank  among 
the  nations ;  the  intellect  of  man  has  broadened  more  than 
his  territory;  each  age  has  accumulated  greater  treasures 
of  knowledge  than  of  wealth ;  and  still  in  spite  of  changed 
position,  in  spite  of  passing  centuries,  in  spite  of  gathered 
wisdom,  this  Galilean,  reared  in  the  meanest  town  in  all 
the  province,  untutored,  and  dying  while  but  a  youth — this 
Galilean  still  remains  as  the  leader  and  teacher  of  the  world  ; 
and  in  every  controversy  with  reference  to  morals  or  reli- 
gion, he  is  the  court  of  last  appeal. 

And  if  this  is  true,  how  do  you  account  for  it?  The 
last  word  on  any  other  branch  of  knowledge  has  not  been 
spoken.  In  this  age  we  outgrow  books  and  theories  and 
men  in  a  generation.  Everything  is  in  flux.  New  light  is 
breaking  out  from  every  quarter,  and  no  man,  however 
profound  his  knowledge,  is  able  to  keep  the  ear  of  the 
people  and  to  teach  them  beyond  a  brief  stretch  of  years. 
But  here  this  son  of  a  carpenter  stands  yet.  No  one  ques- 
tions his  authority  or  wisdom — not  even  the  men  who  do 
not  believe  in  him.  It  is  accepted  that  up  to  this  date  he 
has  spoken  the  last,  highest,  and  best  word  with  reference 
to  the  most  intricate  questions  of  the  soul. 

You  ask,  What  actually  survives  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  and  I 
answer,  his  authority  as  a  teacher  survives.  The  study  of 
nineteen  hundred  years  has  not  yet  emptied  his  words  of 
their  meaning.  He  is  easily  Master  and  Lord  in  the  domain 
of  spiritual  knowledge,  and  men  of  the  profoundest  insight 
and  wisdom  are  glad  to  call  themselves  his  disciples.    And 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  41 

there  never  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  so 
many  men  were  listening  to  his  words,  and  when  they  were 
so  impressed  by  them,  as  in  this  year  of  our  Lord  1894. 
Says  Dr.  John  Young :  "  It  may  be  affirmed  that,  of  all  the 
spiritual  truth  existing  in  the  world  at  this  moment,  not  only 
is  there  not  a  single  important  idea  which  is  not  found  in 
the  words  of  Christ,  but  all  the  most  important  ideas  can 
be  found  nowhere  else,  and  they  have  their  sole  foundation 
in  his  mind.  From  his  mind  there  shone  a  light  which  no 
age  before  his  day  ever  saw,  and  none  since,  except  in  him 
alone,  has  ever  seen." 

3.  Not  only  does  the  authority  of  Christ  as  a  teacher 
survive,  so  that  it  is  a  present  fact  on  which  you  can 
put  your  finger,  but  also  his  power  survives.  He  is  the 
King  of  the  civilized  world  to-day.  One  of  the  courtiers 
in  the  palace  turned  to  Scotland's  king  one  day,  and, 
plucking  his  sleeve,  said,  "  Sire,  there  is  a  greater  king  in 
Scotland  than  thou."  "  Who  is  it?"  said  the  ruler.  "  King 
People,"  answered  the  courtier.  To-day  it  needs  no  daring 
courtier  to  say  to  the  czar  of  all  the  Russias,  to  the  Ger- 
man emperor,  or  to  the  empress  of  India  and  queen  of  all 
England,  "  There  is  a  greater  ruler  in  thy  dominions  than 
thou.  It  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  If  any  ruler  of  Europe 
should  attempt  deliberately  to  dishonor  Christ's  name  or 
prohibit  his  service,  I  think  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  to 
say  that  rebellion  would  be  begun  within  an  hour.  Not 
one  of  them  would  dare,  either  on  account  of  his  life  or  of 
his  kingdom,  to  put  himself  or  herself  in  open  hostility  to 
the  rule  of  Christ.  Nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  the 
Roman  procurator  asked  in  scorn  of  a  pale-faced  Galilean 
who  had  been  arraigned  before  him,  "Art  thou  a  king 
then  ?  "  and  this  last  century  gives  the  answer,  rising  louder 
and  more  triumphant  as  nation  after  nation  adds  its  testi- 
mony, "  Yea,  thou  art  a  king." 


42  THE  INCARNATION 

You  ask  again,  What  did  he  actually  accomplish?  I 
answer,  he  established  a  kingdom  whose  bounds  each  year 
approach  nearer  the  bounds  of  the  habitable  earth.  You 
ask,  What  survives  ?  I  answer,  his  power  survives,  grow- 
ing larger  and  more  extended  every  year.  He  is  King  of 
this  world.  Any  government  of  Europe  or  America  that 
should  attempt  deliberately  to  run  counter  to  what  is  recog- 
nized as  the  clear  teaching  of  Christ  would  be  overturned. 
He  is  the  undoubted  power  behind  every  civilized  throne. 

Who  is  this  man  ?  Born  in  Nazareth,  yet  a  citizen  of 
the  world ;  born  a  Jew,  yet  akin  to  every  race ;  untaught, 
yet  the  teacher  of  the  world ;  scourged  by  the  brutal 
Roman  soldiers,  and  dying  a  death  of  shame  on  the  cross 
amid  the  taunts  of  Jerusalem's  mob,  yet  living,  and  draw- 
ing knight  and  banneret  to  the  same  city  to  struggle  for  his 
tomb ;  crowned  with  thorns,  yet  seated  to-day  on  every 
throne  of  every  civilized  nation,  ruling  the  world  as  the 
King  over  all  kings  and  kingdoms. 

Men  in  his  day  asked  after  some  sign.  They  ask  it 
now.  Here  is  his  sign  to-day :  the  living,  constant  miracle 
of  his  endless,  deathless  life  and  power ;  the  witness  that  he 
came  from  beyond  the  stars  and  that  he  wields  the  power 
that  moves  the  world. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  his  religion  survives.  It  is  known 
distinctively  as  the  Christian  religion.  It  is  an  existing  fact 
to  be  accounted  for.  And  it  is  a  new  religion,  new  in  its 
conception  and  actual  knowledge  of  God,  and  new  in  its 
conception  of  the  destiny  of  man — that  large  and  lumi- 
nous ideal  known  now  as  "the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  philosophers  of  the  Old  World  had  tried  by  search- 
ing to  find  out  God.  Worshipers  built  their  altars,  offered 
their  sacrifices,  sang  their  penitential  psalms,  and  turned 
away  wearied  with  unavailing  search  and  sacrifice,  and 
sought  their  heaven  in   a  personal   annihilation.     Judea 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  43 

came,  but  the  God  of  Judah  was  enthroned  upon  a 
mountain ;  clouds  were  about  him,  and  lightning  darted 
from  the  darkness,  and  the  hearts  of  his  people  trembled 
while  his  thunders  rolled.  "  But  Jesus  of  Galilee  revealed 
God  metaphysically,  intellectually,  and  morally  as  he  never 
was  known  before.  This  untutored  Galilean  proclaims  God 
as  Spirit,  and  clears  away  in  a  single  sentence  the  crude 
notions  of  the  ages,  '  God  is  Spirit,'  unlimited  and  uncon- 
ditioned." "  '  God  is  light,'  and  he  centers  all  knowledge 
and  wisdom  in  the  eternal."  "  God  is  love."  Hear  him 
again  as  he  dispels  the  fears  of  the  trembling  company  at  the 
foot  of  Sinat,  and  wipes  away  the  tears  of  a  troubled  world. 
God  is  love.  And  ye  "  are  not  come  unto  the  mount  that 
.  .  .  burned  with  fire,  nor  unto  blackness,  and  darkness, 
and  tempest :  .  .  .  but  ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  and 
unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
.  .  .  and  to  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and 
to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  that  speaketh  better  things  than 
that  of  Abel." 

(i)  He  gave  the  world  a  new  conception  of  God,  so  that 
we  can  think  of  him  as  Father.  "  No  man  cometh  unto 
the  Father,  but  by  me."  He  has  taken  the  sting  out  of 
the  sweep  of  the  storm,  and  fear  out  of  the  thunder.  He 
has  revealed  to  us  the  supreme  Power  of  the  universe,  filled 
with  love  for  his  creatures,  and  striving  to  bless  them.  So 
that  we  need  no  Mary  to  personify  tenderness  and  com- 
passion ;  we  have  it  all  in  God.  He  is  our  Father,  and  our 
Mother  too. 

(2)  And  he  gave  the  world  a  new  conception  of  the 
destiny  of  man.  It  was  Jesus  Christ  who  drew  the  lines 
of  that  marvelous  picture  of  the  kingdom  of  God — a  king- 
dom full  of  light  and  beauty,  whose  atmosphere  is  peace 
and  righteousness,  unto  which  all  the  world  is  called ;  a 
kingdom  that  grows  larger  and  more  luminous  as  time  goes 


44  THE  INCARNATION 

on.  Man  never  had  such  a  dream  of  destiny  until  Jesus 
of  Galilee  suggested  it.  He  had  dreamed  of  terrestrial  gar- 
dens, of  summer  lands  with  sensuous  delights,  of  triumph 
over  enemies,  of  material  rewards  and  honors ;  but  of  a 
kingdom  built  on  righteousness,  of  a  peace,  not  conquered, 
but  unfolded,  of  intimate  union  and  fellowship  with  God, 
he  had  not  the  power  to  dream  until  Christ  inspired  the 
dream.  "  Neither  in  the  philosophies  of  the  Old  World, 
nor  in  the  Jewish  religion,  nor  in  any  religion,  can  be  found 
the  conceptions  of  God  and  of  the  destiny  of  the  human 
race  revealed  by  this  Nazarene.  His  positions  were  bold 
and  startling,  and  his  doctrines  were  denounced  by  the  re- 
ligious teachers  of  his  country  as  blasphemous."  But  the 
point  is  that  this  conception  of  God  and  human  destiny 
survives.  That  is  not  a  matter  of  tradition,  or  even  of  his- 
tory. It  is  a  living  fact  to  be  accounted  for.  The  religion 
of  the  civilized  world  to-day  is  the  Christian  religion. 

Centuries  have  come  and  gone  since  he  died.  What  has 
become  of  the  doctrines  of  this  Nazarene  ?  Are  they  for- 
gotten ?  Why,  what  else  is  remembered  in  the  world  to- 
day? What  else  is  talked  about  and  taught  and  written 
about  as  the  teaching  of  Jesus?  His  religion  has  become 
an  organized  thing,  until  it  represents  more  and  better  ma- 
chinery, more  men,  and  more  money  than  any  other  move- 
ment on  the  face  of  the  globe.  The  sound  of  the  church 
bells  girdles  the  world. 

Do  you  ask,  What  survives  ?  I  answer,  his  religion  sur- 
vives. Mothers  teach  it  to  their  children.  Strong  men  go 
out  to  fight  their  battles  taking  it  as  their  armor ;  and  when 
men  come  to  die  they  wrap  it  as  the  drapery  of  their  couch 
about  them,  and  lie  down  to  pleasant  dreams.  Every  as- 
sault upon  it  has  been  idle.  The  infidels  of  the  first  cen- 
tury are  dead  and  forgotten.  The  infidels  of  the  eighteenth 
boasted  that  they  would  wipe  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  45 

The  infidels  of  the  nineteenth  century  continue  their  activ- 
ity. But  what  does  it  all  matter?  It  moves  on  with  mys- 
terious power,  resistless,  so  that  whosoever  falls  upon  it 
is  broken,  and  on  whomsoever  it  falls  it  grinds  him  to 
powder. 

It  survives,  this  religion  of  Jesus.  At  no  period  of  the 
world  were  there  so  many  devotees  as  now,  and  at  no 
period  of  the  world  did  it  ever  have  the  same  look  of  mas- 
tery. Says  Abbott,  "  To-day  his  name  fills  the  world ;  the 
cross,  emblem  of  ignominy,  on  which  he  seemed  to  perish, 
is  worn  as  the  outward  symbol  of  the  heart's  adoration  on 
many  a  gentle  woman's  breast;  and  the  last  eighty  years 
of  the  church's  life  sees  a  greater  accession  to  his  follow- 
ers than  the  total  growth  of  all  the  eighteen  hundred  years 
which  had  preceded." 

Now,  who  is  this  Nazarene  who  walks  out  of  his  hum- 
ble shop,  out  from  the  narrow  streets  of  this  inconsequent 
town,  and  lifts  his  hands  and  proclaims,  "  I  am  the  light 
of  the  world,"  and  men  for  two  thousand  years  continue 
to  exclaim,  "Surely  no  man  ever  spake  as  this  man"? 
Who  is  this  man  to  whom  costly  structures  are  reared  in 
every  land ;  for  whom  strong  men  grow  tender,  and  tender 
women  grow  brave ;  for  whose  sake  trouble  is  borne  with- 
out a  murmur,  and  in  whose  strength  death  is  met  without 
fear  ?  Who  is  this  man  who  calls  to  praise  and  service, 
and  all  the  world  responds  ?  Answer  for  yourselves.  This 
world  has  not  gone  mad ;  it  never  was  so  clear  and  strong 
of  brain  as  now ;  and  this  world  answers  with  an  emphasis 
that  grows  stronger  every  year,  this  man  is  none  other  than 
the  Son  of  God.  The  life  that  prolongs  itself  is  eternal 
life ;  the  power  that  thus  grips  the  world  is  divine  power ; 
the  religion  that  has  lifted,  inspired,  comforted,  and  is  sav- 
ing this  world  is  the  Word  of  God  spoken  to  us  in  these 
last  days  by  Jesus  Christ  his  Son.    Jesus  of  Nazareth  orig- 


46  THE  INCARNATION 

inated  a  movement  that  has  changed  the  world ;  a  move- 
ment that  survives,  that  gathers  power  with  the  ages. 

5.  To  the  question,  What  survives  ?  I  answer  finally, 
Jesus  Christ  in  all  his  miraculous  and  transforming  power 
survives. 

The  evidence  for  miracles  is  as  good,  if  not  better,  in 
the  nineteenth  century  than  it  was  in  the  first.  There  is  a 
power  in  this  world  by  which  men  can  exorcise  devils  now ; 
by  which  miracles  are  wrought  in  this  present  age  ;  by  which 
the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  dead  are  brought  to 
life ;  by  which  men  can  face  disaster  and  death  itself  with 
heroic  courage,  and  even  with  joy. 

Men  say,  "  Oh  well,  your  Jesus  of  Nazareth  lived  a  good 
many  years  ago,  if  he  ever  lived  at  all,  and  the  proofs  of 
his  wonderful  works  are  confined  to  the  first  century.  Show 
me  something  tangible  now,  something  on  which  I  can  put 
my  finger,  some  sign  of  divine  power  that  I  can  witness, 
and  then  I  will  consider  his  claims."  That  is  a  challenge 
that  can  be  met.  The  age  of  miracles  is  not  past.  They 
are  being  performed  almost  every  day. 

Last  winter,  at  my  mission,  a  locomotive  engineer  arose 
one  night  and  said :  "  My  friends,  a  few  years  ago  I  was  a 
swearing,  drinking  man,  going  to  the  devil  as  fast  as  a  man 
could  go  ;  careless  of  mother,  wife,  and  children ;  careless  of 
my  own  life  and  soul.  But  Jesus  Christ  came  to  me  and 
convicted  me  and  saved  me.  He  drove  out  the  devils  of 
profanity  and  drink,  and  made  me  hate  the  things  I  once 
loved,  and  love  the  things  I  once  hated."  That  statement 
was  made  by  a  strong-brained,  clear-eyed  fellow,  in  a  tone 
that  carried  conviction.  Was  he  mistaken  ?  About  what  ? 
Not  about  the  transformation;  that  was  perfectly  plain. 
A  whole  ward  of  the  city  of  Newark  could  be  brought  in 
as  witnesses.  This  once  drinking  and  profane  engineer  is 
now  an  active  worker  for  Jesus  of  Galilee;  has  Christ's 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  47 

mottoes  hanging  in  his  cab,  and  preaches  the  gospel  when- 
ever he  has  a  chance.  The  transformation  is  evident  and 
marvelous.  Is  he  mistaken  about  the  means  of  the  transfor- 
mation? That  is  a  matter  that  I  cannot  make  out.  Kinan 
and  Cary  say  that  they  have  been  changed  by  the  power 
of  Christ.  The  change  is  acknowledged,  but  the  power  by 
which  the  change  was  wrought  is  denied.  Now,  who  ought 
to  know  best  how  they  were  healed  and  who  healed  them 
— the  men  out  of  whom  the  devils  have  been  cast,  or  the 
men  who  come  to  inspect  them  after  they  have  been  re- 
stored ?  These  healed  men  say  that  Jesus  Christ  did  it ; 
and,  more  than  that,  they  say  that  it  is  this  same  Jesus  who 
is  keeping  the  room  against  the  return  of  the  evil  spirits. 
And  this  argument  does  not  turn  on  one  or  more  isolated 
cases.  There  is  no  dearth  of  evidence.  Kinan  had  no 
sooner  taken  his  seat  than  another  arose  and  made  the 
same  statement.  And  I  know  of  him  and  of  his  transfor- 
mation. He  is  at  the  head  of  the  Rescue  Mission  in  the 
city  of  Newark  at  this  present  time. 

In  my  home  is  hanging  a  picture  of  a  mother  and  a  son. 
The  face  of  the  mother  shines  with  almost  a  celestial  light. 
It  is  St.  Monica  and  her  son  Augustine.  They  are  at 
Ostia  waiting  for  the  ship,  and  the  mother  has  heard  the 
full  story  of  the  transformation  which  Christ  has  wrought. 
Was  the  strong-brained  and  learned  Augustine  mistaken  ? 
He  said  that  it  was  Christ  that  had  wrought  the  transfor- 
mation. Who  ought  to  know  better  than  he  how  he  was 
healed  ?  Was  John  Bunyan  the  drunken  tinker  transformed 
into  John  Bunyan  the  seer  mistaken  ?  He  said  that  it  was 
Jesus  Christ  who  transformed  him. 

Last  winter,  one  Saturday  night,  I  stood  in  Water  Street 
Mission,  New  York.  There  were  three  hundred  men  floated 
in  from  the  sewers  of  that  great  city,  covered  with  the  very 
slime  and  ooze  of  life ;  outcasts  every  one  of  them,  with- 


48  THE  INCARNATION 

out  God  and  without  any  hope  in  this  world.  On  the 
platform  were  twenty  men  with  every  mark  of  the  world's 
prosperity  and  comfort  about  them.  When  the  service  was 
thrown  open,  one  after  another  of  these  men  arose  and  told 
the  same  story.  A  few  years  ago  they,  too,  were  outcasts, 
and  dying  in  the  gutter,  without  homes,  without  friends, 
without  any  good  and  without  any  God  in  this  world ;  and 
there  came  to  them  this  same  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and 
kindled  dead  affections  and  hopes — recreated  them,  made 
them  new  men.  Were  these  men  mistaken — one  and  all 
of  them  ?  Who  ought  to  know  the  power  by  which  they 
had  been  transformed  ? 

Here,  then,  is  something  tangible,  something  on  which  a 
man  can  put  his  finger — a  sign  of  divine  power  that  a  man 
can  witness.  We  need  not  ask  men  to  believe  in  Christ  for 
his  works'  sake — works  only  that  were  wrought  two  thou- 
sand years  ago,  and  transmitted  to  us  by  history — but  on 
account  of  the  works  wrought  now — the  casting  out  of 
devils  and  the  bringing  of  the  dead  to  life.  Jesus  of  Gali- 
lee is  still  in  this  world  with  all  of  his  miraculous  and  trans- 
forming power. 

To  sum  up,  What  survives  ?     I  answer : 

i.  His  life  survives,  the  pattern  and  the  inspiration  of 
the  world.  The  power  of  this  nineteenth  century  is  not  in 
philosophy  or  in  material  development ;  it  is  in  the  posses- 
sion by  the  world  of  Jesus  of  Galilee. 

2.  His  teaching  and  leadership  survive.  Never  in  the 
history  of  the  world  had  he  the  same  authority  as  now. 
He  is  the  court  of  last  appeal  in  every  moral  and  spiritual 
issue,  and  a  clear  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  ends  the  contro- 
versy. 

3.  And  his  power  survives.  He  is  molding  states  and 
controlling  kings  and  people,  and  the  one  resistless  force 


PHILOSOPHICALLY  CONSIDERED  49 

that  subdues  rebellion  and  prevents  revolution  is  the  power 
of  this  uncrowned  King  of  Galilee, 

4.  His  conceptions  of  God  and  of  human  relations  and 
human  destiny  survive.  The  religion  of  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  earth  is  Christ's  religion.  Men  are  willing  to  live 
and  die  for  him  in  increasing  numbers,  and  there  has  been 
a  greater  accession  to  his  following  in  the  last  eighty  years 
than  in  the  eighteen  hundred  years  preceding. 

5.  And  finally,  Jesus  Christ  in  all  his  miraculous  and 
transforming  power  survives.  He  is  here  working  miracles 
in  the  redemption  of  men  in  this  last  century  as  he  was  in 
the  first. 

Who  is  he  ?  The  old  question  comes  again,  Who  is  he  ? 
This  strange,  mysterious  figure  that  enters  the  world  but 
never  quits  it,  whose  power  is  broken  by  neither  time  nor 
death,  who  has  in  himself  the  power  of  an  endless  life — 
who  is  he  ?  This  startling  figure,  unlike  any  other  the 
world  has  ever  seen,  with  a  conception  of  a  mission  that 
was  fitted  to  the  thought  of  Almighty  God,  speaking  as  man 
never  spake  before,  and  with  power  to  perpetuate  his  life, 
so  that  the  increasing  years  but  increase  his  sway,  working 
miracles  in  this  nineteenth  century  as  he  worked  them  in 
the  first — who  is  he  ?  There  is  but  one  answer,  the  old 
answer  of  the  centurion,  "  Truly  this  man  was  the  Son  of 
God." 

Friends,  men  in  his  day  asked  for  some  sign  of  his  divine 
commission,  and  he  gave  it.  He  gives  it  still.  Here  is  his 
sign  to-day :  the  living,  constant  miracle,  viz.,  his  endless, 
deathless  life  and  power,  the  witness  that  he  came  from  be- 
yond the  stars  and  wields  the  power  that  moves  the  worlds. 


Ill 

THE  INCARNATION  BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED- 

GEORGE  T.  PURVES,  D.D., 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis  in  Princeton 

Theological  Seminary. 


5i 


Ill 

THE  INCARNATION  BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  set  forth  the  way  in  which 
the  fact  and  the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  are  presented 
in  the  Bible.  In  attempting  to  do  this  in  the  limited  space 
at  my  command,  I  shall  relieve  myself  entirely  from  the 
consideration  of  two  matters  which  it  would  be  necessary 
to  introduce  if  it  were  my  task  to  prove  the  incarnation  to 
be  an  original  Christian  doctrine,  but  which  the  title  of  my 
paper  justifies  me  in  regarding  as  assumed. 

On  the  one  hand,  I  am  to  take  the  Bible  as  a  whole, 
and  as  it  has  been  received  by  the  church,  without  enter- 
ing upon  the  discussion  of  any  critical  questions  concerning 
the  genesis  or  authenticity  of  its  parts.  "  The  Incarnation 
Biblically  Considered  "  can  mean  nothing  but  a  discussion 
of  the  topic  as  it  lies  in  the  existing  volume  which  we  know 
as  the  Bible.  It  is  not  a  question,  therefore,  whether  the 
Bible  rightly  represents  the  history  of  this  idea  in  Jewish  or 
apostolic  times.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  does ;  but  I  am 
relieved  from  the  necessity  of  proving  it  by  the  terms  of 
my  subject.  Our  question  simply  is,  How  does  the  Bible 
present  this  truth  ?  though  I  may  remark,  in  passing,  that 
this  seems  to  me  the  true  question  for  biblical  theology  to 
answer.  Biblical  theology  is  the  theology  of  the  Bible.  It 
has  no  right  to  attempt  to  go  by  critical  processes  behind 
the  Bible  in  order  to  present  what  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  history  of  religious  ideas  among  the  Hebrews  or  in  the 

53 


54  THE  INCARNATION 

apostolic  church,  and  yet  call  itself  biblical  theology.  Such 
critical  reconstructions,  supposing  them  to  be  historically 
true,  belong  to  the  department  of  historical  religion.  A 
biblical  theology  must  ground  itself  entirely  upon  the  Bible, 
and  must  have  for  its  purpose  to  set  forth  the  progressive 
unfolding  of  religious  truth  in  that  volume.  It  must  pro- 
ceed upon  the  assumption  of  the  organic  unity  of  the  book, 
and  use  exegesis  alone  as  its  instrument.  This  is  the 
method  upon  which  I  shall  proceed  in  the  following  paper, 
and  therefore  all  questions  of  critical  introduction  will  be 
neglected. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  may  assume  that  the  Bible  teaches 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  and  is  the  incarnate  Son  of  God.  On 
this  there  is  general  consent  among  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  present  discussion.  Commentators  differ  about  the 
precise  force  of  particular  proof-texts  and  about  particular 
phases  of  the  doctrine,  but  few  deny  that  the  Bible  teaches 
our  Lord  to  be  a  real  divine  incarnation.  Those  who  dis- 
pute the  doctrine  are  generally  content  to  deny  the  author- 
ity of  the  Bible.  As,  however,  it  is  not  my  object  to  prove 
the  authority  of  Scripture,  so  I  may  fairly  assume  that  the 
Scriptures  teach  the  fact  and  the  doctrine  of  the  incarna- 
tion. By  that  I  mean  that  they  teach  the  absolute  deity 
of  our  Lord ;  his  personal  and  eternal  preexistence  as  the 
divine  Son  or  Word  or  Image  or  Effulgence ;  his  real  and 
complete  humanity,  which  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  the  Virgin's  womb ;  and,  consequently,  the  union 
in  him  of  divinity  and  humanity,  effected  by  his  mysteri- 
ously making  this  human  nature  his  personal  organ  and 
particular  dwelling-place,  in  order  that  he  might  be  truly 
man  as  well  as  truly  God.  It  is  sufficient  for  me  to  quote 
the  words  of  Paul  to  the  Romans  (i.  3,  4) :  "  Concerning 
[God's]  Son,  who  was  born  of  the  seed  of  David  according 
to  the  flesh,  who  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  55 

power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,"  together  with  the  words  of  John's  prologue 
to  his  Gospel :  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  ...  And 
the  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  (and  we  be- 
held his  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the 
Father),  full  of  grace  and  truth."  It  lies,  however,  beyond 
the  scope  of  this  article  to  prove  the  incarnation  to  be  a 
biblical  idea.  I  shall  assume  this  in  order  to  devote  atten- 
tion to  the  incarnation  from  a  biblical  point  of  view.  I 
propose  to  inquire  concerning  the  way  in  which  the  incar- 
nation is  presented  and  attested  in  the  Bible,  the  relations 
in  which  it  is  placed  to  other  biblical  ideas,  and  finally  to 
attempt  a  more  precise  statement  of  the  nature  of  the  in- 
carnation as  biblically  described.  It  appears  to  me  that 
thus  we  shall  be  led  to  deal  with  those  aspects  of  the  theme 
which  are  of  most  interest  and  importance  in  current  dis- 
cussions. 

i.  I  call  attention,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  fact  that  the 
incarnation  appears,  when  biblically  considered,  as  a  doc- 
trine based  on  historical  facts  and  produced  by  the  need 
of  elucidating  them.  The  truth  is  not  first  declared  as  a 
dogma  and  then  substantiated  by  evidence  from  facts ;  but 
the  historical  advent,  career,  and  teaching  of  our  Lord  are 
first  historically  attested,  and  only  as  explanatory  of  the 
history  is  the  profound  truth  of  the  incarnation  explicitly 
declared.  It  thus  appears  as  a  fact  before  it  appears  as  a 
doctrine.  We  have  in  the  New  Testament  first  the  histor- 
ical Christ  of  the  Gospels,  then  the  theological  Christ  of 
the  Epistles.  This  is  in  obvious  accord  with  the  actual 
movement  of  the  apostles'  minds  in  setting  forth,  in  re- 
sponse to  the  church's  needs,  the  great  mystery  of  which 
they  were  the  witnesses.  It  is  in  accordance,  too,  with  the 
general  character  of  the  Bible,  which  is  not  only,  when  com- 


56  THE  INCARNATION 

pleted,  a  revelation  itself,  but  is  also  the  professed  record 
of  an  historical  process  of  revelation,  since  the  truths  given 
by  God  were  adapted  to  the  movement  of  his  providence 
and  to  the  external  events  which  marked  his  interposition 
in  behalf  of  his  church. 

The  consequence  of  this  is  that  in  the  Old  Testament 
the  incarnation  is  but  dimly  and  fragmentarily  presented, 
though  in  the  light  of  the  New  Testament  we  can  see  it 
adumbrated.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  Agent  by  whom 
salvation  was  to  be  accomplished  is  represented  in  various 
aspects,  all  of  which  appear  to  the  New  Testament  student 
as  partial  presentations  of  the  Great  Deliverer.  It  begins 
with  the  promise  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise 
the  serpent's  head.  Later  follows  the  promise  to  Abram 
that  in  his  seed  should  all  nations  be  blessed.  Still  later 
we  read  of  Messiah  as  the  last  of  the  prophets ;  again,  as 
the  Son  of  David  with  an  everlasting  throne ;  then,  as  the 
prophets  enriched  by  their  successive  revelations  the  hope 
of  Israel,  we  read  of  the  lowly  Branch  from  the  root  of 
Jesse,  of  the  humble  but  glorious  King  of  Israel,  and  of 
the  suffering  Servant  of  Jehovah,  in  whose  personal  and 
vicarious  passion  the  mission  of  Israel  itself  is  represented 
as  being  achieved.  In  this  line  of  promise  the  human, 
Abrahamic,  Israelitish  character  of  the  Agent  of  salvation 
is  made  prominent.  But  we  also  find  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment foreshadowings  of  his  divine  character.  The  Angel 
of  Jehovah,  who  often  appears  identified  with  Jehovah 
himself,  is  in  the  earlier  history  represented  as  the  guide 
and  deliverer  of  the  church.  In  the  Psalms  appellations 
are  given  to  Messiah  which  go  far  beyond  the  possibilities 
of  merely  human  dignity.  It  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the 
instance  which  Christ  himself  cited,  where  David's  Son  is 
called  by  the  psalmist  David's  Lord.  Similar  titles  are  as- 
cribed to  him  by  the  prophets,  and  the  era  of  future  deliver- 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  57 

ance  is  frequently  described  as  the  day  of  Jehovah  or  as  his 
coming  to  earth.  In  the  Old  Testament,  however,  these 
predictions  and  descriptions  are  not  brought  together  into 
a  completed  exhibition  of  Messiah  as  God  incarnate,  save 
in  a  few  rapt  utterances  of  the  prophets,  such  as  Isaiah  ix. 
6  and  Micah  v.  2.  At  the  same  time,  all  the  Old  Testa- 
ment representations  of  the  Agent  of  salvation  were  at  once 
harmonized  by  the  fact  of  the  incarnation  when  that  was 
historically  revealed,  and  it  in  turn  appears  as  so  organi- 
cally related  to  the  previous  promises  as  to  be  the  only  fact 
by  which  they  can  all  be  unified  and  fulfilled.  Perhaps  in 
no  respect  does  the  Christian  gospel  more  plainly  appear 
as  the  intended  accomplishment  of  the  earlier  promises  of 
God  than  in  its  presentation  of  the  divine-human  personal- 
ity of  its  Founder ;  and  likewise  the  earlier  promises  con- 
tained in  the  Old  Testament  plainly  appear  as  revelations 
and  as  parts  of  one  divine  plan  by  the  fact  that  when  the 
incarnation  is  accepted  the  key  to  all  of  them  is  found. 
As  Oehler  says  (quoted  by  Riehm,  "  Messianic  Prophecy," 
p.  297) :  "It  belongs  to  the  character  of  prophecy  to  pre- 
sent in  its  envisaging  forms  disjecta  membra,  which  are  har- 
moniously blended  only  in  the  course  of  the  fulfilling  his- 
tory. The  presuppositions  of  all  the  essential  determinations 
of  New  Testament  Christology  are  to  be  found  in  the  Old 
Testament,  but  the  revealing  word  which  unites  them 
organically  and  gives  them  their  ultimate  form  is  given 
only  along  with  the  accomplished  revealing  fact." 

It  is,  however,  in  the  New  Testament,  as  we  should  ex- 
pect, that  the  relation  of  the  incarnation  to  the  history  of 
the  Incarnate  One  most  plainly  appears.  There  the  doc- 
trine is  distinctly  presented  as  growing  out  of  and  as  neces- 
sitated by  external  events. 

The  only  apparent  exception  to  this  mode  of  presenta- 
tion is  the  prologue  to  the  Fourth  Gospel,  where  we  find 


58  THE  INCARNATION 

theological  reflection  preceding  the  historical  narrative. 
Yet  it  is  to  be  observed  that  John's  narrative  approves 
itself  as  historically  accurate,  and  as  forming  the  basis  of 
his  theology,  by  the  fact  that  the  most  distinctive  term  of 
the  latter — the  Logos — is  nowhere  attributed  by  him  to 
Jesus  himself.  Even  in  this  instance,  therefore,  we  see  the 
doctrine  resting  on  the  facts. 

In  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  although  they,  too,  were  com- 
posed from  special  points  of  view,  and  therefore  not  with- 
out some  theological  reflection,  the  narrative  reveals  very 
plainly  that  the  understanding  by  the  disciples  of  the  truth 
concerning  Christ  was  gradually  forced  upon  them  by  the 
events  which  took  place,  so  that  their  apprehension  of 
the  truth  was  conditioned  by  the  facts,  and  expanded  as 
new  facts  occurred  or  became  known.  Thus,  for  example, 
we  find  the  miraculous  conception  of  our  Lord  recorded, 
but  in  the  announcements  of  it  to  Mary  and  Joseph  the 
deeper  mystery  of  the  incarnation  was  not  explicitly  dis- 
closed. Mary  was  indeed  told,  "  He  shall  be  called  the 
Son  of  the  Most  High:  .  .  .  and  he  shall  reign  over  the 
house  of  Israel  forever;"  also,  "The  Holy  Ghost  shall 
come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High  shall 
overshadow  thee :  wherefore  also  that  which  is  to  be  born 
shall  be  called  holy,  the  Son  of  God  ;"  but  all  these  expres- 
sions could  have  been,  and  doubtless  were,  interpreted  by 
her  without  rising  to  the  thought  of  an  incarnation  of  God, 
while  the  second  of  the  two  declarations  just  cited  turned 
her  mind  directly  to  the  miraculous  conception  as  the  rea- 
son why  the  title  "  Son  of  God  "  would  belong  to  her  off- 
spring. This,  of  course,  was  not  to  exclude  other  and 
higher  reasons  for  the  title ;  but  the  expression  was  evi- 
dently designed  to  accord  with  the  facts  as  she  knew  them, 
and  to  go  no  farther.  The  narrative  thus  indicates  the  de- 
pendence of  the  first  disciples,  even  of  the  Virgin  herself, 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  59 

on  facts  for  their  belief  about  Christ ;  and  the  precise  rela- 
tion of  the  annunciation  as  thus  narrated  to  the  facts  as 
then  known,  rather  than  to  the  full  truth  as  known  later,  is 
a  strong  guaranty  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  evangelist. 

Again,  the  gospel  narratives  make  clear  the  progress  of 
the  disciples  in  the  belief  concerning  the  real  nature  of 
Christ  during  his  ministry  among  them.  It  lies  beyond 
my  present  purpose  to  present  Christ's  testimony  to  him- 
self, but  it  may  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  it  was,  as  re- 
ported in  the  Gospels,  as  explicit  as  the  character  of  the 
work  which,  according  to  the  Bible,  he  had  come  to  do 
permitted.  That  work  involved  his  appearance  on  eartli 
as  man,  and  the  veiling  for  the  most  part  of  the  splendors 
of  both  his  divinity  and  Messiahship,  save  as  these  were 
manifested  to  those  with  eyes  to  see  them  through  his 
humanity  and  lowliness,  his  teaching,  character,  actions, 
and  sufferings.  The  Gospels,  however,  record  enough  to 
prove  that  he  asserted  the  consciousness  of  being  divine. 
Even  the  Synoptics  testify  to  his  claim.  They  represent 
the  demons  as  silenced,  but  not  rebuked,  for  their  witness 
to  him  as  Son  of  God.  They  record  the  divine  testimony 
at  the  baptism  and  the  transfiguration,  as  well  as  the  con- 
fession of  Peter  for  which  Christ  pronounced  him  blessed 
and  taught  of  the  Father.  They  record  these  words  of  our 
Lord,  only  paralleled  in  the  Fourth  Gospel :  "  All  things 
have  been  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father:  and  no  one 
knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father ;  neither  doth  any  know 
the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son 
willeth  to  reveal  him."  The  Fourth  Gospel  provides  much 
more  explicit  testimony.  I  will  refer  to  this  hereafter.  It 
is  sufficient  now  to  refer  to  the  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  tenth, 
and  seventeenth  chapters.  If  these  reports  of  Christ's  lan- 
guage be  accurate,  certainly  Christ  claimed  to  be  con- 
sciously divine.     But  the  very  character  of  Christ's  self- 


60  THE  INCARNATION 

revelation  necessitated  that  the  disciples  should  penetrate 
gradually  into  its  mystery,  and  so  they  are  represented  in 
the  Gospels.  We  may  observe  them,  unlike  the  populace 
and  the  rulers,  advancing  slowly  and  unequally  into  the 
understanding  of  Him  whom  they  had  learned  to  trust  and 
love.  We  should  indeed  be  careful  not  to  attribute  to  their 
earlier  expressions  the  full  significance  which  at  a  later  time 
they  would  undoubtedly  themselves  have  attributed  to  the 
same  words.  The  title  "  Son  of  God,"  as  used  by  Nathanael, 
or  even  as  used  by  Peter  at  Caesarea  Philippi,  probably  did 
not  express  to  the  speaker  the  developed  theological  con- 
ception of  the  Epistles.  But  it  seems  impossible  to  read 
the  Gospels  sympathetically  without  perceiving  that  the 
divine  mystery  in  Christ  took  shape  in  the  apostles'  minds 
in  a  firm  belief  in  his  divinity  as  they  received  and  pon- 
dered upon  his  words  and  deeds  and  character.  They  dif- 
fered among  themselves,  doubtless,  in  the  degree  to  which 
this  belief  had  as  yet  taken  distinct  shape.  Philip  merited 
Christ's  reproachful  question,  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time 
with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip?  he  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  But  soon  they  could 
all  say,  "  Now  are  we  sure  that  thou  knowest  all  things : 
...  by  this  we  believe  that  thou  earnest  forth  from  God  ;  " 
and  after  the  resurrection  Thomas  may  be  well  thought  to 
have  uttered  the  conviction  of  the  rest  as  well  as  of  himself : 
"  My  Lord  and  my  God."  Again,  therefore,  the  biblical 
narrative  depicts  the  apprehension  of  this  truth  proceeding 
in  accordance  with  the  progress  of  external  events. 

If,  once  more,  we  examine  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles,  the 
same  method  of  revelation  appears.  The  disciples'  appre- 
hension of  their  Lord's  real  nature  was  verified  by  the  tran- 
scendent facts  of  his  resurrection  and  ascension.  To  the 
natural  power  of  these  facts  there  was  also  added,  accord- 
ing to  the  biblical  narrative,  the  illuminating  power  of  the 


BIBLICALLY   CONSIDERED  61 

Spirit,  whose  specific  function  it  was  to  take  of  the  things 
of  Christ  and  show  them  unto  his  disciples.  What  they 
had  formerly  perceived  dimly  was  now  made  clear,  and  as 
the  true  character  of  Christ's  work  was  more  and  more 
definitely  unveiled  to  them  the  true  nature  of  Christ  him- 
self was  also  more  explicitly  apprehended.  The  course  of 
their  thought,  so  far  as  it  can  be  traced,  appears  to  have 
been  backward  from  the  divine  dignity  of  Christ  as  mani- 
fested in  his  resurrection  and  ascension  to  the  essential 
divinity  of  his  nature  and  the  clearer  recollection  of  his 
divine  claims.  Yet  the  process  is  represented  as  still  grad- 
ual and  as  conditioned  by  the  progress  of  events.  Peter's 
speeches  in  the  early  chapters  of  the  Acts  show  that  his 
thought  mainly  rested  as  yet  on  the  external  proofs  of  the 
Messiahship  of  Jesus,  and  do  not  give  expression  to  any 
definite  conception  of  the  Lord's  essential  divinity.  Neither 
did  the  course  of  events  during  the  earliest  period  in  the 
apostolic  age  evoke  developed  teaching  upon  this  point. 
The  Judaistic  controversy  dealt  with  another  aspect  of 
Christianity,  so  that  in  the  first  and  second  cycle  of  Paul's 
Epistles  we  find  the  incarnation  assumed  and  stated,  but 
not  argued  or  elaborated.  It  was  at  a  later  period,  when 
apostolic  teaching  was  forced  to  meet  the  attack  of  theo- 
sophical  errorists,  that  the  truth  of  the  incarnation  was  both 
explicitly  asserted  and  defended.  Then  we  are  elaborately 
told  of  the  dignity  of  Christ's  person  both  before  he  came 
to  earth  and  after  he  assumed  humanity ;  his  sublime  self- 
humiliation  is  made  to  be  an  example  for  our  imitation; 
his  infinite  superiority  to  all  other  messengers  from  God  is 
used  to  set  forth  the  sufficiency  and  finality  of  his  priestly 
work  of  salvation ;  and  the  last  surviving  apostle  completes 
the  testimony  of  his  colleagues  by  exhibiting  in  Jesus  the 
eternal,  personal,  divine  Word,  who,  by  manifesting  in  the 
flesh,  through  word  and  deed,  the  character  and  will  of  God, 


62  THE  INCARNATION 

had  completed  revelation,  and  had  performed  the  work  by 
which  the  salvation  of  his  people  is  made  secure. 

In  thus  hastily  outlining  the  way  in  which  the  incarnation 
is  progressively  presented  in  the  Bible,  I  have  not  thought 
it  necessary  to  cite  passages  in  proof.  My  object  is  simply 
to  direct  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  doctrine  is  brought 
out  in  dependence  upon  the  history.  When  this  is  con- 
sidered, the  testimony  of  the  Bible  on  this  subject  appears 
doubly  valuable.  It  does  not  present  the  truth  after  the 
manner  of  a  theoretical  treatise,  but  as  first  a  revelation  of 
facts  through  which  the  truth  was  almost  forced  upon  the 
minds  of  the  disciples,  and  into  the  full  purport  of  which 
they  penetrated  gradually.  A  mythical  explanation  is  im- 
possible, since  the  doctrine  arose  under  the  pressure  of 
attested  and  external  events.  It  is  equally  impossible  to 
regard  it  as  the  offspring  of  dogmatic  speculation.  The 
incarnation,  when  biblically  considered,  seeks  no  confirma- 
tion from  philosophy.  It  is  made  so  exclusively  dependent 
on  historical  facts  that,  as  we  have  seen,  the  expectation  of 
an  incarnation  only  fragmentarily  appears  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  in  the  New  its  unfolding  is  the  result  of  external 
evidence  which  to  the  apostles  was  convincing  and  irresis- 
tible. The  Bible,  therefore,  presents  the  incarnation  not 
as  a  speculation,  and  not  primarily  even  as  a  dogma,  but 
as  an  historical  fact.  This  feature  of  its  teaching  should 
surely  weigh  heavily  in  our  estimate  of  its  testimony. 

2.  Closely  connected  with  this  relation  of  the  doctrine 
to  history  is  the  next  fact  to  which  I  call  attention,  that 
the  incarnation,  when  biblically  considered,  appears  most 
prominently  as  a  stupendous  moral  truth,  and  again  sec- 
ondarily as  a  theological  dogma.  This,  too,  is  an  example 
of  the  characteristic  method  of  the  Bible.  It  usually  ad- 
vances from  the  concrete  to  the  general ;  from  example  to 
principle ;  from  life  to  its  analysis  and  explanation.     To  it 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  63 

truth  is  not  abstract,  but  embodied  ;  God  is  not  absolute 
Being,  but  Creator,  King,  Benefactor,  and  Father.  In  large 
part  the  Bible  is  like  nature,  where  truth  lies  in  actual 
operation,  to  be  discovered,  analyzed,  and  systematized  by 
the  student.  In  part,  however,  the  Bible  is  like  science,  by 
which  existing  truth  is  pointed  out  and  reduced  to  state- 
ment. But  in  the  Bible  the  living  truth  in  concrete  form 
usually  appears  first  and  the  doctrinal  statement  follows, 
so  that  both  aspects  appear  in  their  proper  relation  and 
proportion. 

The  incarnation,  then,  biblically  considered,  appears 
preeminently  a  living,  moral  fact  in  human  history.  Take, 
for  example,  our  Lord's  testimony  to  his  divine  nature  as 
recorded  in  the  Gospels,  and  observe  the  practical  pur- 
poses for  which  it  is  always  made.  If  he  sublimely  de- 
clared that  none  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father,  or  the 
Father,  save  the  Son,  it  was  that  he  might  immediately 
add,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  So  when  he  called  him- 
self the  Son  of  man — a  phrase  used,  doubtless,  with  refer- 
ence to  his  representative  assumption  of  humanity — it  was 
that  he  might  indicate  the  spirit  which,  after  his  example, 
should  animate  his  followers,  or  the  character  of  his  mis- 
sion upon  earth,  or  some  other  practical  inference.  In 
the  Fourth  Gospel  the  moral  significance  of  the  incarna- 
tion appears  no  less  than  in  the  Synoptics,  though  it  was 
written  more  in  a  theological  interest  than  they  were.  In 
the  fifth  chapter  Christ's  equality  with  the  Father  is  rep- 
resented as  a  state  of  uninterrupted  communion,  and  this 
in  order  that  the  Son  may  bring  forth  life  out  of  death 
(vs.  17-29).  In  the  seventh  (ver.  57)  his  obedience  to  and 
loving  dependence  on  the  Father  are  made  the  type  of  the 
relation  of  the  believer  to  himself.  Again,  his  testimony 
to  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Father  (vii.  29)  and  to  his 


64  THE  INCARNATION 

superiority  to  the  limitations  of  time  (viii.  58)  is  given  for 
the  purpose  of  defending  his  authority  to  teach.  In  the 
phrase,  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one "  (x.  30),  the  moral 
unity  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  is  shown  by  the  context 
to  be  quite  as  prominent  a  thought  as  the  unity  of  being 
which  in  the  light  of  other  passages  we  must  also  see  in- 
cluded in  it ;  and  hence  the  force  of  the  following  argument 
by  which  he  met  the  Jews'  charge  of  blasphemy:  "  If  he 
called  them  gods,  unto  whom  the  Word  of  God  came, 
.  .  .  say  ye  of  him,  whom  the  Father  sanctified  and  sent 
into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemest;  because  I  said,  I  am 
the  Son  of  God  ?  "  In  his  last  prayer,  likewise  (ch.  xvii.), 
the  union  and  communion  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  are 
again  and  with  great  emphasis  represented  as  the  spiritual 
basis  and  type  of  the  union  and  communion  of  believers 
with  one  another  and  in  Christ  with  God.  Not,  therefore, 
as  a  separate,  unrelated  doctrine  is  the  incarnation  set  forth 
by  our  Lord,  but  as  a  moral  phenomenon,  revealing  God 
to  man  and  man  to  himself,  forming  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  renewed  life  of  his  people  rests,  and  the  spiritual 
image  to  which  they  are  to  be  conformed. 

Nor  do  the  Epistles  lose  this  apprehension  of  the  moral 
and  practical  aspect  of  the  truth  before  us,  even  when  they 
express  a  dogmatic  conception  of  it.  Thus  Paul  saw  in  it 
the  means  by  which  a  truly  representative  Redeemer  was 
provided  for  men,  when  he  wrote,  "  But  when  the  fullness 
of  the  time  came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  born  of  a 
woman,  born  under  the  law,  that  he  might  redeem  them 
which  were  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adop- 
tion." (Gal.  iv.  4,  5.)  Again,  he  appeals  to  it  as  a  reason 
for  Christian  generosity,  reminding  the  Corinthians  of  him 
who,  "  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  became  poor, 
that  ye  through  his  poverty  might  become  rich."  To  the 
Colossians  he  would  make  the  fact  that  in  Christ  "  dwelleth 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  65 

all  the  fullness  of  Deity  bodily  "  the  assurance  that  they  were 
complete  in  him;  while  the  Philippians  are  urged  by  the 
Apostle  to  let  the  same  self-forgetfulness  and  self-sacrifice 
which  Christ  exhibited  in  becoming  man  be  their  mind  also. 
So  when  we  turn  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the  incar- 
nation appears  as  the  bond  of  union  between  Christ  and 
his  people,  and  the  assurance  to  them  of  their  high  priest's 
sympathy  and  effectual  intercession.  Finally,  to  St.  John 
the  incarnation  of  the  divine  Word  meant  the  revelation  of 
light  and  life  to  those  who  received  him,  and  the  entrance 
by  them  into  a  divine  fellowship.  According  to  both  Paul 
and  John,  union  with  Christ  is  the  condition  of  becoming 
the  sons  of  God,  since  he  is  the  incarnate  Son  of  God ; 
but  the  latter  apostle  most  emphatically  sets  forth  the  mys- 
tery of  Christ's  person  as  the  fundamental  fact  on  the  basis 
of  which  grace  and  truth  have  been  brought  to  man  in  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  whereby,  through  faith  in  Jesus  as 
the  Word  of  God,  man's  joy  may  be  full. 

Thus  the  biblical  writers  never  lose  the  perception  of  the 
moral  and  practical  significance  of  the  incarnation.  To 
them  it  was  not  in  the  least  an  abstract  or  philosophic 
dogma,  but  a  sunlike  truth,  shedding  beauty  and  fertility 
on  human  life.  It  was  the  actual  revelation  of  God  in  his 
most  gracious  aspect ;  the  dawn  of  light,  the  birth  of  life, 
to  a  darkened  and  dead  world. 

While,  however,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  pre- 
serve, as  the  Bible  does,  this  moral  or  dynamic  view  of  the 
incarnation,  it  would  be  unjust  to  conclude  that  the  biblical 
writers  did  not  also  penetrate  to  or  intend  to  teach  a  really 
dogmatic  view  of  it.  Such  a  conclusion  is  contradicted  by 
the  obviously  dogmatic  thought  and  statement  of  many  of 
the  New  Testament  Epistles,  especially  those  of  Paul  and 
John.  It  is  idle  to  deny  to  these  writers  the  intellectual 
articulation  of  Christian  truth,  as  well  as  sharp  and  clear 


66  THE  INCARNATION 

distinctions  between  truth  and  error  and  the  careful  choice 
of  words  to  define  the  doctrines  of  the  faith.  It  is  a  favor- 
ite idea  with  some  theologians  that  this  dogmatic  process 
was  Hellenistic  and  post-apostolic,  and  that  it  introduced 
an  alien,  intellectual  element  into  the  creed  of  Catholic 
Christendom.  But  in  fact  this  process  is  not  peculiarly 
Hellenic,  but  universally  human ;  and  since  the  biblical 
writers  were  thinking  men,  and  since  the  belief  of  the  early 
church  was  confronted  from  the  beginning  by  intellectual 
opponents,  there  soon  appeared  in  the  apostolic  Epistles 
clearly  cut  and  well-articulated  statements  of  the  dogmatic 
content  of  the  new  religion.  It  is  true  that  this  process  is 
not  carried  so  far  in  the  Bible  as  to  include  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  religious  truth  in  a  single  and  formal  series  of  state- 
ments, or  to  preclude  the  formulation  of  such  by  the  later 
church.  But  it  is  also  true  that  the  biblical  writers  are  not 
content  with  the  moral  apprehension  of  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity. While  that  is  prominent,  as  we  have  seen,  it  leads 
back  with  them,  as  it  must  do  with  all  intelligent  believers, 
to  an  intellectually  constructed  dogma. 

In  respect  to  the  incarnation  the  dogmatic  statements  of 
Scripture  cannot  be  questioned.  Thus  we  have  Paul's  most 
carefully  chosen  language  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians. 
Writing  against  the  theosophical  errorists  of  Asia,  he  used 
words  to  describe  the  incarnation  which  were  evidently  in- 
tended to  combat  incipient  Gnosticism  :  "  God  was  pleased 
that  in  Christ  all  the  pleroma  [i.e.,  the  entire  manifestation 
of  the  graces  and  attributes  of  Deity]  should  dwell."  Again, 
and  still  more  definitely,  "  In  him  dwelleth  all  the  pleroma 
of  the  Deity  in  a  bodily  form."  Here  we  have  the  direct 
statement  that  Christ  is  the  absolute  Deity  and  no  inferior 
being;  the  statement  that  he  is  the  manifestation  of  the 
entire  plenitude  of  divine  attributes ;  the  statement  that  his 
is  a  continuous  embodiment  of  this  manifestation  of  Deity ; 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  67 

and  the  statement  that  this  manifestation  of  Deity  in  Christ 
is  "  in  bodily  form,"  ocooaTtxdi? — a  word  intended  to  describe 
the  real,  corporeal  nature  of  Christ's  physical  frame,  and 
selected,  doubtless,  to  combat  expressly  the  notion  that 
matter  is  evil. 

Again,  the  classical  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philip- 
pians  is  perhaps  even  more  clearly  a  dogmatic  construction 
of  the  doctrine,  and  that,  too,  in  closest  connection  with  a 
practical  exhortation  ;  for  the  Bible  never  conceives  of  doc- 
trine as  unrelated  to  life,  or  of  spiritual  life  as  capable  of  con- 
tinuance and  growth  without  the  nourishment  of  doctrine. 
In  this  passage  we  note  the  careful  use  of  'ev  jxopcp-^  d-tob 
to  describe  the  condition  of  Christ's  preexistent  activity,  in- 
volving "equality  with  God,"  and  of  (j-opcpTjv  006X00  to  describe 
his  condition  upon  earth.  Mopcpv]  is  "  form  "  ;  the  intrinsic, 
distinguishing  peculiarity  of  an  object;  that  by  virtue  of 
which  it  is  what  it  is ;  unlike  v/yma,  which  describes  the  ex- 
ternal appearance.  Hence  the  Apostle  asserts  the  posses- 
sion and  exercise  by  the  preincarnate  Christ  of  the  divine 
attributes,  and  the  possession  and  exercise  of  real  humanity 
after  his  incarnation.  He  also  represents  our  Lord's  self- 
humiliation  as  his  voluntary  act,  and  traces  it  as  the  work 
of  one  person  from  its  beginning  in  heaven  to  its  consum- 
mation on  the  cross.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  recur  to 
this  passage  again.  What  I  have  said  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  to  this  biblical  writer  the  moral  power  of  the  incarna- 
tion rested  on  its  dogmatic  idea,  and  that,  as  the  moral  as- 
pect led  to  the  dogmatic,  so  the  latter  was  necessary  for  the 
continuance  and  power  of  the  former. 

I  might  present  other  Christological  passages,  particularly 
those  in  the  Johannean  writings ;  but  what  I  have  adduced 
must  suffice.  They  make  very  clear  the  relation  of  the 
moral  and  dogmatic  aspects  of  the  incarnation  as  it  is  pre- 
sented in  the  Bible.     The  consequence  is  that  this  truth, 


68  THE  INCARNATION 

biblically  considered,  appears  neither  an  abstract  proposi- 
tion nor  a  vague,  unreasoned  impression.  It  is  powerful 
through  its  reality.  It  is  presented  as  a  living  fact,  supreme 
in  its  revelation  of  true  deity  and  true  humanity ;  appealing 
to  our  gratitude,  our  aspirations,  our  wondering  love  and 
hope ;  bringing  heaven  to  earth  and  God  to  revealed  Fa- 
therhood, and  thus  truth  to  man.  Yet  it  is  also  set  forth 
in  dogmatic  form,  and  the  dogmatic  truth  is  authoritatively 
proclaimed.  This,  however,  is  only  to  say  that  it  is  a  real 
truth,  capable  of  exact  statement.  Being  such,  it  is  then 
depicted  for  us  in  the  living  colors  of  the  Bible's  sublime 
portrait  of  the  living  Christ. 

3.  I  pass  on  to  observe,  in  the  third  place,  that  the  in- 
carnation, biblically  considered,  stands  in  definitely  assigned 
relation  to  other  parts  of  God's  revealed  activity  with  re- 
spect to  this  world.  The  Bible  presents  this  truth  in  its 
relation  to  other  truths,  and  the  correct  observance  of  these 
relations  is  essential  to  a  complete  biblical  view  of  the 
doctrine. 

(1)  Thus  the  incarnation,  biblically  considered,  is  related 
fundamentally  to  the  biblical  representation  of  God  as  a 
Trinity.  It  was  the  eternal  Son,  the  divine  Word,  who  be- 
came incarnate — not  the  Father,  nor  the  Holy  Spirit.  At 
the  same  time  the  Bible  teaches  an  harmonious  action  of 
all  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity  in  respect  to  this  as  to  other 
external  acts.  The  Son  became  incarnate  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  the  Father,  so  that  he  spake  constantly  of 
having  been  sent  by  the  Father,  and  of  doing  the  work 
which  had  been  given  him  to  do.  The  incarnation  is  rep- 
resented also  as  performed  through  the  agency  of  the  Spirit, 
the  latter  producing  and  endowing  the  humanity  which  the 
Son  assumed,  so  that  when  incarnate  he  was  filled  with  the 
Spirit.  All  this  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  biblical 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  in  which  the  Son  is  ever  represented 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  69 

as  the  personal  Agent  of  the  Father  in  the  accomplishment 
of  his  will  ad  extra,  while  both  Father  and  Son  are  repre- 
sented as  operating  by  the  Spirit.  In  such  operations  the 
Son  ever  manifests  the  subordination  of  office  and  the  lov- 
ing obedience  toward  the  Father  which  the  name  "  Son  " 
implies,  and  in  harmony  with  which  he  is  represented  as 
assuming  the  work  of  human  salvation. 

Now  the  effect  of  this  fundamental  relation,  in  the  bib- 
lical view,  between  the  incarnation  and  the  Trinity  is  to 
represent  the  former  as  having  been  accomplished  in  pro- 
foundest  harmony  with  the  nature  of  God — a  harmony  so 
profound  that  the  fact  of  the  incarnation  results  immedi- 
ately in  the  revelation  of  the  triune  nature  of  Deity.  From 
this  it  further  follows  that  the  Bible  does  not  present  the 
incarnation  as  a  mechanical  or  necessary  process  of  evo- 
lution, but  as  effected  upon  the  basis  of  the  personal  and 
free,  though  most  certain,  relations  which  it  represents  as 
existing  between  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit.  The  Father  sent 
and  gave  the  Son.  The  Son  agreed  to  come.  The  Spirit 
produced  and  endowed  the  human  organ.  These  are  free 
acts,  not  necessary  processes.  In  fact,  by  resting  its  view 
of  the  incarnation  on  the  fundamental  conception  of  God 
as  a  Trinity,  the  Bible  at  once  removes  its  teaching  from 
the  two  extremes  into  which  the  idea  of  incarnation  has 
elsewhere  been  carried.  It  appears  neither  as  a  necessary 
process  of  the  self -manifestation  of  God,  such  as  panthe- 
ism has  taught ;  nor  as  the  pagan  notion  of  an  isolated  or 
partial  appearance  of  deity  on  the  part  of  one  of  the  gods. 
Its  relation  to  the  Trinity  causes  the  biblical  view  of  the 
incarnation  to  present  us  with  the  idea  of  a  real  manifesta- 
tion of  the  absolute  Deity,  which  is  yet  the  result  of  a 
freely  devised  and  adopted  plan  on  God's  part,  performed 
in  strictest  harmony  with  his  revealed  intrinsic  nature. 

This  relation  to  the  Trinity  is  the  fundamental  relation 


70  THE  INCARNATION 

in  which  the  incarnation  is  placed  by  the  biblical  writers ; 
but  we  should  next  note  the  relation  in  which  our  doctrine 
is  placed  to  the  several  phases  of  God's  activity  with  refer- 
ence to  the  world. 

(2)  Thus  it  is  placed  in  relation  to  the  work  of  creation. 
The  incarnate  Son  is  always  represented  as  having  been  the 
Creator  of  the  entire  universe,  or,  more  strictly,  as  having 
been  the  Agent  through  whom  creation  was  accomplished. 
He  is  represented  also  as  the  One  in  whom  the  universe 
consists,  "  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power." 
He  is  set  forth  as  being,  in  his  relation  to  the  universe,  the 
image  of  the  invisible  God,  "  the  effulgence  of  his  glory  and 
the  very  impress  of  his  nature,"  by  whom  and  for  whom 
all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  both  material  and  rational, 
were  made.  He  is  thus  represented  as  sustaining  to  crea- 
tion the  position  of  revealed  Deity,  creation's  Author  and 
Lord. 

Now  the  effect  of  this  upon  the  incarnation,  biblically 
considered,  is  not  only  to  give  the  highest  dignity  to  the 
person  of  our  Lord,  but  to  represent  his  incarnation  as  in 
harmony  with,  and  as  the  culmination  of,  God's  relation 
to  the  universe,  even  as  we  have  seen  it  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  biblical  representation  of  the  nature  of  God  him- 
self. Thus  the  biblical  view  implies  that  the  incarnation  is 
not  an  act  to  which  the  divine  Son  is  compelled  by  any 
force  outside  of  himself ;  but,  as  he  is  the  sovereign  Author 
of  the  universe,  so  he  freely  exercised  his  power  in  becom- 
ing man.  Again,  it  is  implied  that  he  no  more  limited  his 
intrinsic  nature  or  subjected  himself  to  unforeseen  contin- 
gencies by  becoming  incarnate  than  he  did  by  creating  the 
universe.  In  both  cases,  indeed,  he  determined  to  work 
out  the  divine  will  by  means  of  instruments  created  for  the 
purpose,  and  to  be  used  in  accordance  with  the  qualities 
bestowed  upon  them.     Hence  both  the  creation  and  the 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  71 

incarnation  were  the  beginnings  of  historical  processes. 
But  in  neither  case  did  the  Son's  transcendence  over  the 
instrument  cease.  As  by  creation  he  did  not  cease  to  be 
God,  so  by  incarnation  he  did  not  become  merely  man. 
And  then,  still  further,  it  is  implied  that,  since  the  Incar- 
nate One  was  the  Creator,  the  work  which  he  undertook  in 
becoming  incarnate  is  in  some  sense  the  highest  operation 
of  his  creative  activity.  Creation  is  here  carried  to  its 
highest  point.  As  man  is  the  goal  of  the  creation  of  this 
world,  so  the  God-man  is  the  highest  realization  of  that 
goal ;  and  as,  according  to  the  Bible,  the  history  of  man  is 
to  be  the  means  of  supremely  revealing  God's  glory  to  the 
entire  universe,  the  God-man  becomes  not  only  the  end  of 
this  world's  formation,  but  the  climax  of  the  entire  uni- 
verse itself.  Such,  for  example,  is  the  teaching  of  the  first 
and  second  chapters  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Be- 
ginning with  the  Son  as  Creator,  the  writer  explains  his  in- 
carnation by  showing  that  in  him  the  promised  dominion 
of  man  had  been  already  accomplished,  and  would  be 
shared  by  those  who  are  in  him.  In  the  fact  that  Christ 
was  the  Creator  the  early  church  found  a  ready  answer  to 
the  dualistic  philosophy  of  Gnosticism,  and  by  the  same 
fact  the  biblical  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  appears  not  as 
an  isolated,  unrelated  fact  in  the  scheme  of  nature,  not  even 
as  merely  exalted  by  the  dignity  of  the  Incarnate  One,  but 
as  itself  a  part  of  the  crowning  work  of  the  Creator.  This 
is  not  to  say  that,  if  man  had  not  fallen,  the  incarnation 
would  still  have  taken  place.  That  hypothesis  lies  wholly 
beyond  the  scope  of  the  biblical  survey,  since  the  Bible 
looks  on  the  introduction  of  sin  as  included  in  the  divine 
plan.  The  hypothesis  in  question,  therefore,  is  a  purely 
unverifiable  speculation.  But  by  linking  the  incarnation 
with  creation,  by  teaching  that  it  was  specifically  the 
Creator  who  became  incarnate,  the  Bible  seems  to  intend 


72  THE  INCARNATION 

to  represent  the  incarnation  as  the  climax  of  the  works  of 
God,  and  in  profoundest  harmony,  as  I  have  said,  with  his 
relation  to  the  world,  as  well  as  with  his  own  internal 
nature. 

(3)  Further,  the  Bible  places  the  incarnation  in  close 
relation  with  God's  self-revelation  before  and  elsewhere. 
In  its  view  God  is  emphatically  a  self-revealing  God.  He 
may,  and  does,  judicially  give  men  over  to  blindness  and 
hardness  of  soul,  so  that  they  do  not  see  or  worship  him ; 
but  he  is  none  the  less  self-revealing,  and  the  revelations 
given  through  chosen  men  have  an  analogy  in  his  wider 
self-manifestation  in  providence  and  nature. 

I  have  already  shown  in  part  that  the  incarnation  stands 
in  organic  relation  in  the  Bible  to  the  earlier  teaching  of 
the  Old  Testament  concerning  God  and  salvation.  We 
should  now  add  that  it  is  set  forth  as  giving  to  the  church 
the  final  and  complete  revelation  of  God,  so  that  it  unites 
the  earlier  foregleams  in  one  clear  light.  "  God,  having  of 
old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers 
portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end  of  these 
days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son."  It  could  be  shown  that 
every  revelation  of  God  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  holy, 
just,  good,  true,  almighty,  omniscient,  etc.,  is  included  in 
the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  each  quality  and  attribute 
being  blended  in  true  proportion.  In  fact,  according  to 
the  Bible,  Jesus  is  Jehovah.  The  revelation  has  only 
become  more  explicit  with  the  explicit  disclosure  of  the 
Trinity.  "  He  that  hath  seen  me,"  said  Christ,  "  hath  seen 
the  Father." 

But  the  biblical  view  goes  farther,  and  represents  the 
divine  Logos  not  only  as  the  Agent  of  creation,  but  also 
as  the  Agent  of  the  moral  and  rational  illumination  of  all 
intelligent  beings.  John  brings  this  out  most  plainly.  He 
says  of  the  Logos  that  "  in  him  was  life,  and  the  life  was 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  73 

the  light  of  men."  Of  Christ  he  could  say,  "There  was 
the  true  [original]  light,  which  lighteth  every  man,  coming 
into  the  world."  In  our  Lord's  declaration  that  he  was 
the  light  of  the  world,  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life — a 
declaration  which  referred,  undoubtedly,  to  his  incarnate 
activity — the  apostle  saw  the  historical  and  supreme  culmi- 
nation of  his  wider  activity  as  the  unincarnate  Logos.  Hence 
he  writes  in  his  first  Epistle :  "  The  life  was  ma?iifested,  and 
we  have  seen,  and  bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you  the 
life,  the  eternal  [life],  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was 
manifested  unto  us."  We  should  observe  the  care  and 
caution  with  which  this  truth  is  stated.  There  is  no  iden- 
tification of  the  Logos  with  the  reason  or  conscience  of  man. 
But  the  statement  is  that  he  is  the  life  of  the  universe,  i.e., 
its  organizing,  controlling,  guiding  principle,  since,  as  Paul 
says,  "  in  him  all  things  consist,"  and  that  to  intelligent  be- 
ings this  manifestation  in  the  universe  of  an  intelligent  and 
ethical  principle  is  the  light  which  falls  on  their  intelligences, 
and  so  provides  for  them  a  rational  and  ethical  interpreta- 
tion of  existence.  The  thought  appears  to  be  essentially 
that  of  the  Apostle  Paul  when  he  wrote  to  show  man's 
accountability  under  the  light  of  nature :  "  The  invisible 
things  of  him  since  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly 
seen,  being  perceived  by  the  things  that  are  made,  even  his 
eternal  power  and  divinity."  John,  however,  represents  the 
Logos  as  the  Mediator  of  this  divine  revelation,  and  then 
adds  :  "  The  Logos  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  (and 
we  beheld  his  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from 
the  Father),  full  of  grace  and  truth.  .  .  .  No  man  hath  seen 
God  at  any  time  ;  the  only  begotten  Son  [or  '  God '],  which 
is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him." 

Thus  the  incarnation  is  set  forth  as  the  climax  of  the 
self-revelation  of  God.  It  did  not  occur  to  the  biblical 
writers  to  discuss  its  possibility.     They  testify  to  it  as  a  fact, 


74  THE  INCARNATION 

and  then  they  show  that  it  is  the  most  adorable  instance  of 
that  determination  of  God  to  reveal  himself  to  his  creatures 
to  which  Israel's  prophets  had  borne  repeated  witness,  and 
of  which  the  universe  itself  is,  in  their  view,  but  an  instru- 
ment. 

(4)  Once  more,  the  incarnation  is  related  most  closely  of 
all,  by  the  biblical  writers,  to  the  work  of  redemption.  It 
is  impossible  for  me  here  to  discuss  this  most  important 
matter  completely.  I  can  only  observe  that,  biblically  con- 
sidered, the  incarnation  was  in  order  to  redemption.  The 
biblical  idea  of  the  mode  of  redemption  is  that  the  Son  of 
God,  by  becoming  man,  was  enabled  to,  and  actually  did, 
meet  the  claims  upon  men  of  divine  justice  and  law;  did 
in  his  life  on  earth  perfectly  obey  for  them  the  divine  will 
which  they  ought  to,  but  cannot,  perform,  and  did  suffer 
and  die  in  their  place,  being  made  a  curse  for  them,  being 
made  sin  for  them ;  so  that  on  the  ground  of  his  faultless 
righteousness  those  who  by  the  Spirit  are  united  to  him  are 
literally  redeemed,  soul  and  body,  from  the  guilt  of  trans- 
gression, and  will  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  sin.  It 
is  beyond  the  scope  of  my  article  to  prove  this,  but  it  is 
necessary  to  remark  that  this  redemption  is  plainly  repre- 
sented, not  only  as  the  work  of  Christ,  but  as  only  possible 
through  his  having  become  incarnate,  and  as  the  immediate 
end  of  the  incarnation.  (Cf.  Col.  ii.  9-15  ;  Phil.  ii.  5-1 1  ; 
Heb.  ii.  9-18.)  The  mission  of  the  divine  Son  is  not  rep- 
resented as  culminating  in  his  becoming  incarnate,  but  in 
his  obedience  to  the  Father's  will  even  unto  death.  He 
was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  that  he  should  taste 
death  for  every  man.  It  behooved  him  in  all  things  to  be 
made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful 
and  faithful  high  priest.  The  Son  of  man  came  to  minister, 
and  to  lay  down  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  The  song 
of  the  saved  is  not  an  exultation  over  the  humanity  of  the 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  75 

Son  of  God,  but  a  thanksgiving  that  he  redeemed  them 
unto  God  and  washed  them  from  their  sins  in  his  own 
blood. 

The  point  to  be  noted  is  that  according  to  this  view  the 
incarnation  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  the  means  to  an  end. 
The  Bible  does  not  teach  that  we  are  saved  by  the  incarna- 
tion, but  through  the  incarnation,  and  by  the  cross.  As  we 
now  look  back  upon  its  relation  to  the  Trinity,  to  creation, 
and  to  the  self-revelation  of  God,  we  must  partly  correct 
our  impressions.  Not  by  itself  is  it  related  in  the  Bible  to 
these  truths,  but  as  the  first  moment,  the  fundamental  con- 
dition, of  redemption.  The  biblical  climax  in  Christ's  life 
is  not  at  Bethlehem,  but  at  Calvary,  and  the  incarnation 
appears  the  important  biblical  truth  which  it  is  because  in 
the  biblical  view  it  is  the  astonishing  condition  of  the  yet 
more  astonishing  redemption  of  men  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

When,  then,  we  observe  the  way  in  which  the  incarna- 
tion is  related  in  the  Bible  to  other  truths,  a  fair  idea  may 
be  formed  of  the  way  in  which  it  was  intended  to  be  prac- 
tically conceived.  It  appears  as  a  free  act  of  sovereign 
power  and  grace.  It  appears,  more  particularly,  as  part 
of  a  moral  scheme  deliberately  devised  by  God  for  suffi- 
cient reasons.  It  is  so  sublime  an  act  of  wisdom,  power, 
love,  and  of  desire  on  God's  part  to  bestow  the  highest  life 
on  guilty  man,  as  to  be  the  point  where  all  his  previous  ac- 
tivities converge,  and  where  his  whole  nature  is  disclosed. 
And  yet  it  is  not  the  ultimate  end  of  the  divine  purposes. 
It  provided  rather  the  condition  on  which  the  attainment 
of  the  ultimate  end  depended.  It  is  presented  in  the  Bible 
as  an  essential  part  in  a  scheme  of  grace  which  began  with 
the  eternal  counsels  of  the  Godhead  and  is  to  end  in  a  re- 
deemed multitude  of  sons  of  God,  who  are  joint  heirs  with 
the  Incarnate  One,  and  conformed  unto  his  image,  because 


7  6  THE  INCARNATION 

they  have  been  redeemed  by  no  less'  a  ransom  than  his 
precious  blood. 

4.  Having  thus  endeavored  to  exhibit  the  way  in  which 
the  incarnation  appears  to  me  to  lie  in  the  Bible  in  its  rela- 
tions to  historical  fact,  to  moral  life,  and  to  theological  truths, 
I  venture  in  conclusion  to  inquire  briefly  how,  in  the  light 
of  biblical  statements,  we  are  to  conceive  of  the  incarnation 
itself.  I  do  so  with  especial  reference  to  those  aspects  of 
the  subject  which  have  been  most  discussed  in  recent  years. 
The  greatest  possible  fidelity  to  the  statements  of  the  Bible 
is  here  required.  The  nature  of  the  incarnation  so  entirely 
transcends  our  experience  and  understanding  that  purely 
philosophical  constructions  of  it  must  be  quite  untrust- 
worthy. The  biblical  student  must  faithfully  follow  the 
record,  and  not  allow  speculative  theories  to  surreptitiously 
intrude  themselves. 

Assuming,  then,  the  real  and  personal  divinity  of  our 
Lord,  we  may  with  equal  confidence  affirm  that  the  Bible 
attributes  to  him  an  equally  real  and  complete  humanity, 
both  corporeal  and  rational.  The  reality  of  his  corporeal 
nature  I  may  assume  to  be  biblical  without  proof.  No  one 
is  now  disposed  to  revive  the  early  Docetic  view.  But  the 
reality  and  completeness  of  his  rational  human  nature  must 
be  equally  held  on  exegetical  grounds.  He  is  called  "  the 
man  Christ  Jesus."  "  In  all  things  it  behooved  him  to  be 
made  like  unto  his  brethren  ;"  and  the  context  of  this  latter 
statement  shows  that  the  writer  had  in  mind  both  the  like- 
ness of  nature  and  of  sorrow  which  exists  between  Christ 
and  men.  Again,  he  is  said  to  have  become  flesh,  to  have 
been  born  of  the  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh; 
and  the  usage  of  the  term  "  flesh  "  proves  that  it  included 
in  such  passages  the  mental  and  moral  as  well  as  the 
physical  nature  of  man.  Again,  we  read  in  the  Philippi- 
ans  that  he  took  the  "form  of  a  servant,"  where,  as  already 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  77 

observed,  "  form  "  (f*.op<p rp)  means  not  the  appearance,  but 
the  essential  and  distinguishing  qualities.  Appeal  may  also 
be  made  to  the  evidence  afforded  by  Christ's  life.  He 
called  himself  the  Son  of  man.  He  exhibited  the  features 
of  man's  mental  and  moral  life,  such  as  affection,  sorrow, 
ignorance,  and  growth,  sin  alone  being  excluded.  Cer- 
tainly the  biblical  portrait  is  that  of  one  really  divine  and 
really  human,  "born  of  the  seed  of  David  according  to 
the  flesh,  declared  [or  defined]  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead."  * 

But  while  there  is  little  need  for  me  to  show  that  the 
Bible  presents  Christ  as  equally  and  completely  God  and 
man,  the  question  may  be  raised  how  we  are,  in  conformity 
with  biblical  teaching,  to  apprehend  this  mysterious  union. 
The  church  has  replied  by  declaring  Christ  to  possess  two 
natures,  including  two  wills  and  intelligences.  Many  mod- 
ern theologians  reject  this  dogmatic  construction,  and  main- 
tain that  the  divinity  and  humanity  of  our  Lord  may  be  re- 
garded as  two  aspects  of  one  nature,  or,  at  least,  as  two  sides 
of  one  consciousness,  which  must  be  considered  a  human 
consciousness,  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  substance  in 
which  it  inhered.  With  the  philosophical  basis  of  either 
view  I  have  here  nothing  to  do.  But  my  article  would  be 
incomplete  if  I  did  not  attempt  to  state  the  biblical  evi- 
dence upon  this  phase  of  our  subject. 

I  find  myself,  then,  confronted  with  several  facts  which 
appear  inconsistent  with  the  modern  theory. 

*  Whether  "the  spirit  of  holiness"  (Rom.  i.  4)  describe  Christ's 
divine  nature,  after  the  analogy  of  Hebrews  ix.  14,  or  whether  it  de- 
scribe his  human  spirit,  in  either  case  the  Apostle  teaches  the  reality 
and  completeness  of  both  the  divinity  and  humanity  of  our  Lord,  for 
even  on  the  latter  view  his  "  spirit"  is  represented  as  the  organ  of  his 
divinity. 


78  THE  INCARNATION 

(i)  First,  the  humiliation  of  our  Lord,  including  his  in- 
carnation, is  represented  as  a  continuously  voluntary  act. 
His  determination  to  become  incarnate,  and  the  act  of 
becoming  so,  are  certainly  represented  as  voluntary.  Its 
whole  moral  value  is  described  as  consisting  in  the  free- 
ness  with  which  it  was  done.  It  thus  became  the  act  of 
self-sacrifice  and  self-humiliation  that  it  was.  "  He  who 
was  rich  became  poor."  "  He  thought  not  equality  with 
God  a  matter  for  grasping,  but  made  himself  of  no  ac- 
count, and  took  the  form  of  a  servant."  The  point,  how- 
ever, to  which  I  call  attention  is  that,  after  the  act  of 
incarnation  had  been  accomplished,  the  incarnate  life  of 
humiliation  on  earth  is  represented  as  still  a  continuous  act 
of  voluntary  lowliness.  Thus,  in  Philippians,  he  not  only 
took  the  form  of  a  servant  and  became  in  the  likeness  of 
men,  but,  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled 
himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death.  His  subjuga- 
tion to  law  is  here  described  as  a  continuously  voluntary 
act  and  as  the  continuation  of  the  same  purpose  and  per- 
sonal determination  by  which  he  became  man.  So  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we  read :  "  Forasmuch  as  the  chil- 
dren are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  himself  also  in  like 
manner  [::apa-)v7ploJS,  "in  every  respect"]  partook  of  the 
same."  Both  the  act  of  incarnation  and  all  his  experi- 
mental identity  with  man  were  parts  of  one  plan  of  volun- 
tary self-humiliation.  The  same  fact  must  appear,  I  think, 
constantly  to  the  careful  student  of  the  Gospels,  for  in  these 
Christ  appears  as  possessing  from  the  beginning  a  perfectly 
clear  knowledge  of  the  real  work  he  was  to  do  and  the 
means  by  which  it  would  be  done,  but  as  letting  it  appear 
to  others  gradually,  and  as  freely  choosing  to  hide  his  real 
glory  in  the  somber  life  of  popular  disappointment,  suffer- 
ing, shame,  and  death.  In  the  biblical  view  the  self-humili- 
ation of  Christ  does  not  appear  as  the  resignation  of  a  pious 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  79 

man  to  strange  providences,  nor  even  as  the  vigorous  and 
willing  acceptance  of  shame  and  death  by  one  who  in  the 
ordinary  human  way  found  such  to  be  required  of  him. 
It  appears  as  a  continuous  act  of  free  self-abasement,  be- 
ginning in  the  preincarnate  state,  and  carrying  out  on 
earth  the  purpose  for  which  the  coming  to  earth  had  been 
determined.  This  implies,  however,  the  continuance  of  his 
divine  consciousness. 

(2)  Again,  the  incarnation  is  represented  as  not  interrupt- 
ing the  conscious  relations  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  in  the 
Trinity.  In  fact,  those  relations  are  principally  revealed  to 
us  through  the  declarations  made  by  or  about  the  incarnate 
Son.  Note,  for  example,  the  present  tenses  in  Christ's  lan- 
guage :  (<  No  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father ;  neither 
doth  any  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom 
the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him."  Observe  that  Christ  replied 
to  the  charge  that  he  made  himself  equal  to  God  by  declar- 
ing that  both  in  view  of  the  conscious  relations  between 
the  Father  and  him,  and  in  view  of  the  office  assigned 
him  by  the  Father,  he  had  a  right  to  advance  such  a  claim 
(John  v.  19,  etc.):  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  to  you,  The  Son 
can  do  nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father 
doing.  .  .  .  For  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  showeth 
him  all  things  that  himself  doeth."  These  words  are  per- 
haps unfathomable.  They  indicate  the  essential  relation- 
ship of  Father  and  Son  as  at  once  necessary  and  yet  ethical. 
They  lead  us  into  the  very  mystery  of  the  Trinity.  But 
they  also  disclose  this  relation  as  continuous  in  the  incar- 
nation, so  that,  whatever  addition  the  latter  made  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  divine  Son,  it  did  not  interrupt  his 
conscious  relation  to  the  Father.  To  the  same  effect  are 
many  other  passages  in  the  Fourth  Gospel.  Hence  the 
apostle  could  prefix  to  it  his  summary  in  this  language : 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten 


8o  THE  INCARNATION 

Son  [or  God],  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath 
declared  him."  The  divine  consciousness  thus  appears  in 
the  biblical  representation  along  with  the  truly  human  and, 
therefore,  limited  mind  of  Christ,  and  both  must  be  pre- 
served in  our  conception  of  him.  The  divine  Son  did  not 
lay  aside  the  jtoptpty  &zob  when  he  took  the  |xopuv;v  §o6\oo. 
It  was  "  the  being  equal  with  God  "  which  he  did  not  con- 
sider a  matter  for  grasping,  and  by  that  we  are  apparently 
to  understand  an  external  manifestation  of  the  equality — 
"  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world 
was,"  of  which  he  spake  in  the  presence  of  his  disciples  as 
something  which  he  had  relinquished.  But  he  could  still 
say,  "I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me;"  "He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father." 

(3)  Still  again,  the  Sonship  of  Christ,  as  we  should  expect 
from  the  foregoing,  is  represented  as  absolutely  unique,  and 
the  sonship  of  believers  as  something  different  from  it.  To 
him  belongs  the  title  "  God's  only  begotten  Son."  His  Son- 
ship  is  eternal,  though  manifested  in  time.  The  Word  was 
God,  and  always  had  been  God,  though  he  became  flesh. 
The  sonship  of  believers,  on  the  other  hand,  is  dependent 
on  their  legal  and  moral  union  with  the  incarnate  Son  of 
God.  To  them  he  gave  the  right  to  become  sons  of  God. 
They  are  joint  heirs  with  him.  They  have  received  the 
adoption.  They  have  been  born  again  after  his  likeness. 
When  the  two  sonships  are  viewed  purely  in  their  moral 
aspects,  they  are,  indeed,  evidently  alike.  This  illustrates 
the  fact  already  stated,  that  in  the  Bible  the  incarnation  is 
presented  preeminently  in  its  moral  aspects.  The  charac- 
ter of  the  sons  of  God  consists  in  conformity  to  the  ethical 
relationship  of  the  divine  Son  to  the  Father.  Looking 
forward  to  the  final  consummation,  John  could  write,  "  Be- 
loved, now  are  we  children  of  God,  and  it  is  not  yet  made 
manifest  what  we  shall  be.    We  know  that,  if  it  shall  be  mani- 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  Si 

f ested,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see  him  even  as  he 
is."  But,  though  ethically  alike,  the  two  sonships  are  rep- 
resented as  metaphysically  different,  the  one  being  the  mani- 
festation in  a  man  of  the  same  personal  Sonship  which 
exists  eternally  in  Deity ;  the  other  being  the  reproduction 
in  men,  who  are  the  creatures  of  God,  of  the  divine  Son's 
ethical  relationship  to  the  Father,  that  they,  too,  may  have 
fellowship  with  him.  Believers  are  not  represented  as  being 
or  becoming  divine.  The  sole  phrase  which  seems  to  imply 
such — viz.,  "  that  by  these  ye  may  become  partakers  of  the 
divine  nature  " — is  to  be  interpreted  ethically,  unless  it  is  to 
be  regarded  as  opposed  to  the  rest  of  Scripture.  Believers 
obtain  sonship  in  dependence  entirely  upon  Christ,  being 
sons  in  him.  Hence  the  two  cannot  be  biblically  considered 
as  differing  only  in  degree,  but  must  be  held  to  differ  also, 
and  most  fundamentally,  in  kind. 

(4)  Once  more,  it  appears  to  me  that  we  shall  most 
consistently  apprehend  the  nature  of  the  incarnation  as 
presented  in  Scripture  by  taking  as  our  key-word  the  one 
habitually  used  for  the  purpose  by  St.  John.  This  is  the 
word  "manifested."  "The  life  was  manifested,"  he  says, 
"  and  we  have  seen,  and  bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you 
the  life,  the  eternal  life,  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was 
manifested  unto  us;"  "He  was  manifested  to  take  away 
sins;"  "He  was  manifested  that  he  might  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil."  Similar  language  is  found  in  other 
apostolic  writers.  Thus  Peter  writes  of  "  Christ,  the  Lamb 
without  blemish,  foreknown  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  but  manifested  in  these  last  times  on  your  account." 
The  term,  however,  is  in  exact  accord  with  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  where  the  life  of  Christ  is  set 
forth  as  the  manifestation  in  the  flesh  of  the  spiritual  life 
and  light  which  the  eternal  Word  mediated  from  the  be- 
ginning of   creation,  but  which  was  finally  revealed  for 


82  THE  INCARNATION 

men's  salvation,  in  accordance  with  the  loving  will  of  the 
Father,  by  the  redeeming  work  of  his  incarnate  Son. 

In  modern  times,  however,  the  word  which  has  been 
most  widely  taken  as  the  key-word  to  the  incarnation  has 
been  Hivwotv.  (Phil.  ii.  7.)  This  has  also  been  pressed  to 
its  literal  and  etymological  meaning,  so  that  the  incarnation 
is  represented  as  the  Son's  emptying  himself  of  his  divine 
attributes  or  consciousness.  The  incarnation  is  thus  con- 
ceived of  as  the  self-depotentiation  of  God,  and  the  Incar- 
nate One  as  consciously  man  alone,  though,  according  to 
some  writers,  gradually  returning  again  to  the  remembrance 
and  finally  to  the  exercise  of  what  he  had  been,  and  to  the 
full  enjoyment  of  perfect  communion  with  the  Father. 
The  "  kenosis  "  has  almost  become  equivalent,  in  modern 
theology,  to  this  particular  theory.  But  I  am  compelled  to 
criticize  this  interpretation  of  the  Apostle's  language.  In  no 
other  instance  in  the  New  Testament  is  y.s\>6i»  to  be  pressed 
to  its  bare  etymological  meaning,  but  always  signifies  "  to 
make  of  no  account,"  "to  esteem  as  nothing."  (See  Rom. 
iv.  14;  1  Cor.  i.  17  ;  ix.  15  ;  2  Cor.  ix.  3.)  Why  should  it 
be  thought  to  denote  in  this  case  a  metaphysical  process  of 
self-limitation,  especially  when  the  very  object  of  the  pas- 
sage is  to  represent  Christ  as  the  ethical  example  which  his 
people  are  to  imitate  ?  Moreover,  the  language  of  the 
Apostle  is  simply  kaoxob  exevcooev,  making  the  action  of  the 
verb  terminate  simply  and  emphatically  on  the  person  of 
the  divine  Son,  and  without  expressly  stating  what  he  relin- 
quished in  becoming  man.  We  may,  indeed,  infer  the  lat- 
ter from  the  preceding  verse,  but  the  emphasis  of  the  Apos- 
tle's thought  is  not  on  it,  but  simply  on  the  entire  absence 
of  self-seeking  and  self-glorification  on  the  part  of  the  pre- 
incarnate  Christ.  Still  further,  the  modern  interpretation 
appears  plainly  inconsistent  with  the  evidence  which  I  have 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  83 

already  offered  for  the  undiminished  divine  consciousness 
of  Christ  when  doing  his  work  on  earth. 

The  incarnation,  therefore,  when  biblically  considered, 
should  be  described  as  a  manifestation  rather  than  an  occul- 
tation.  It  is  represented  as  a  particular  mode  of  the  reve- 
lation of  God.  As  God  reveals  himself  in  nature  by  act- 
ing through  the  agency  of  second  causes,  without  destroying 
their  reality  and  without  contracting  himself  to  their  mea- 
sure, but  by  using  them  in  accordance  with  their  nature, 
dwelling  in  and  working  through  the  physical  universe, 
though  transcending  it  in  his  own  life,  so  we  may  believe  that 
the  divine  Son,  who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  and 
the  Creator  of  the  universe,  united  to  himself  a  complete  hu- 
man nature,  and  manifested  himself  through  it,  in  accor- 
dance with  its  constitution,  but  preserving  intact  his  tran- 
scendence over  it.  This  union  was  more  intimate  than  that 
between  nature  and  God,  for  it  is  represented  as  personal, 
so  that  the  humanity  of  Christ  was  the  immediate  organ  of 
his  divinity.  The  result,  also,  was  a  higher  manifestation  of 
God  than  nature  could  mediate,  since  human  nature  is 
spiritual,  and  could  therefore  directly  embody  spiritual  quali- 
ties. Viewed  in  contrast  with  those  glories  which  are  the 
natural  manifestation  of  God's  supreme  excellence,  the 
"form  of  a  servant "  was  utter  self-humiliation  for  the  Son 
of  God,  while  the  life  of  obedience  and  the  death  of  atone- 
ment were  even  more  so.  But  viewed  in  relation  to  man's 
ignorance  and  need,  and  in  relation,  also,  to  the  ruin  in 
which  mankind  lay,  it  was  the  highest  manifestation  of  God, 
disclosing  in  perfection  his  nature  and  his  will ;  and  it  was 
so,  according  to  the  biblical  idea,  just  because  it  was  a  con- 
tinuously voluntary  and  gracious  act  of  divine  manifestation 
through  a  real  human  life.  Such  seems  to  me  to  be  the  bib- 
lical way  of  conceiving  of  the  incarnation  itself.     If  so,  then 


84  THE  INCARNATION 

we  cannot  suppose  that  Christ's  divine  Sonship  differs  from 
ours  only  in  degree,  nor  that  he  was  possessed  of  but  a 
single  conscious  intelligence,  nor  that  he  laid  aside  his  di- 
vine activity  when  he  became  man.  It  appears  to  me  that 
the  church  has  rightly  embodied  the  biblical  teaching  in 
her  dogma  of  two  natures,  and  that,  far  as  the  statement 
may  be  beyond  our  comprehension,  it  is  the  only  existing 
formula  which  takes  all  the  biblical  facts  and  statements 
into  account.  To  the  philosophical  objector  the  best  reply 
is  that  in  fact  the  divine  and  human  did  coexist  in  one  his- 
torical life.  It  is,  of  course,  no  explanation  of  the  mystery. 
But  it  brings  to  us  a  Master  truly  and  consciously  divine, 
freely  revealing  through  a  truly  and  consciously  human  life 
the  character  and  will  of  God — a  revelation  which  is  per- 
fectly trustworthy,  because  the  person  of  Christ  transcends 
in  his  divine  consciousness  the  human;  and  at  the  same 
time  perfectly  apprehensible  by  us,  because  the  medium 
through  which  the  manifestation  is  made  is  as  human  as  we 
are  ourselves. 

If  now  it  be  asked  how  in  this  view  the,  growth  and 
limitation  of  our  Lord's  humanity  is  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  continuance  of  his  conscious  deity,  I  reply  that  the 
Bible  makes  no  attempt  to  reconcile  them.  It  fearlessly 
affirms  both,  and  any  attempt  to  adjust  them  lies  beyond 
the  biblical  survey.  I  cannot  forbear  remarking,  however, 
that  the  continuously  voluntary  character  of  the  self-mani- 
festation of  God  in  Christ  appears  to  supply  the  means  for 
such  an  adjustment,  so  far  as  it  may  be  possible  to  our 
thought.  For  in  each  stage  of  the  growth  of  his  humanity 
the  divine  Son  may  be  conceived  as  intentionally  manifest- 
ing himself  in  accordance  with  the  condition  of  his  human 
organ.  As  child  and  boy,  he  manifested  himself  in  a  life 
natural  to  these  stages ;  and,  since  his  public  ministry  had 
not  begun,  nothing  more  was  necessary.     As  his  human 


BIBLICALLY  CONSIDERED  85 

nature  matured,  and  was,  we  are  told,  especially  sanctified 
by  the  Spirit,  such  a  life  of  divine  revelation  as  is  recorded 
in  the  Gospels  became  possible.  It  does  not  destroy  the 
reality  of  his  humanity,  nor  the  bond  by  which  it  was 
united  to  his  divinity,  if  we  conceive  of  these  as  respec- 
tively used  and  caused  by  the  will  of  the  latter.  He  could 
speak  and  act  under  the  limitations  of  his  humanity.  He 
could  manifest  weariness  and  sorrow.  He  could  even  ex- 
press ignorance.  He  could  cry,  "  My  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?  "  But,  again,  he  could  speak  out  of  the  un- 
dimmed  consciousness  of  divinity,  as  we  have  seen ;  and 
even  when  most  evidently  human  we  may  comprehend  in 
some  measure  that  the  human  was  the  voluntary  expression 
of  his  divine  love  or  of  his  freely  assumed  and  exercised 
work  of  redemption.  As  it  is  unbiblical  to  suppose  that  the 
incarnation  destroyed  the  transcendence  of  the  Son,  so,  it 
appears  to  me,  his  genuine  humanity  seems  the  more  attrac- 
tive, helpful,  and  noble  when  it  is  regarded  as  the  deliberate, 
continuous  manifestation  of  the  eternal  Son  of  God  through 
a  medium  which  we  appreciate  by  our  own  self-knowledge, 
and  yet  through  which  we  can  see  far  beyond  our  own 
limitations. 

In  concluding  this  meager  study  of  the  incarnation,  bib- 
lically considered,  I  will  only  say  that  the  Bible  has  accom- 
plished for  religion  the  marvelous  work,  not  only  of  giving 
the  idea  of  an  incarnation  which  is  consistent  with  theism 
and  with  man's  responsibility,  but  also  of  actually  describ- 
ing an  incarnate  God.  It  has  dared  to  present  the  world 
with  the  story  of  such  a  life  and  the  portraiture  of  such  a 
person ;  and  lo !  the  life  and  the  person  are  felt  by  all  to 
perfectly  fulfil  the  transcendent  idea.  We  may  well  affirm 
that  nothing  but  the  historical  truth  of  the  incarnation  could 
have  produced  such  an  idea  of  it  as  that  which  the  Bible 
gives ;  and  the  best  proof  of  the  idea,  in  turn,  is  the  fact  of 


86  THE  INCARNATION 

the  life  of  Jesus  Christ.  For  the  more  closely  we  approach 
that  life  the  more  overwhelming  does  the  conviction  become 
that  he  was  and  is,  what  his  church  has  ever  confessed 
him,  perfect  God  and  perfect  man.  It  will  be  well  for  the 
church  if  she  keep  this  truth,  not  only  in  its  integrity,  but 
in  just  those  relations  and  aspects  in  which  it  is  presented 
in  the  Bible. 


IV 
THE  INCARNATION  HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED 

CHESTER    D.  HARTRANFT,  D.D., 
President  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 


37 


IV 

THE  INCARNATION  HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED 

In  tracing  the  history  of  the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation 
we  find  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  its  precursor,  and  neces- 
sarily bound  up  with  its  solution.  One  cannot  define  the 
human  generation  of  our  Lord  without  considering  the 
question  of  his  preexistence,  and,  therefore,  of  his  relation- 
ship to  the  Father  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  Further,  in  any 
sequential  presentation,  we  cannot  always  classify  the  dis- 
cussions current  in  a  given  age  in  a  logical  way,  for  they 
do  not  always  originate  or  develop  in  that  fashion ;  nor  can 
we  invariably  preserve  the  same  rubrics  for  succeeding 
periods,  although  one  is  more  able  to  do  so  with  these 
affiliated  themes  than  with  some  others.  The  limits  of 
such  an  occasion  do  not  allow  any  full  treatment  of  these 
dogmas  as  they  have  unfolded  themselves  in  the  centuries. 
We  must  pass  over  great  names ;  we  must  be  silent  about 
great  treatises ;  we  cannot  pause  for  estimates  or  criticisms 
of  systems.  My  hearers  must  accept  a  rude  outline,  which 
has  as  its  style  a  necessary  dryness  and  stiffness.  Only  the 
transcendence  of  the  subject  can  give  it  luminosity. 

I.  The  First  Period. — The  post-apostolic  age  was  a  singu- 
lar secession  from  the  lofty  quality  and  penetration  of  its 
predecessor.  Experience  was  about  to  essay  its  wings  in 
the  new  air  and  garden  bequeathed  it  by  the  parent  time. 
The  tendencies  in  doctrine  moved  in  germinal  forms  only  ; 
they  attained  but  little   development,  because  there  had 


90  THE  INCARNATION 

arisen  no  real  argument  to  and  fro,  concerning  the  truths 
themselves ;  they  had  been  accepted  in  their  simplicity. 
In  Clemens  Romanus,  Polycarp,  and  Diognetus,  we  find 
an  unquestioning  support  of  the  evangelical  belief.  Christ 
is  recognized  as  the  Son  of  God,  both  by  quotations  from 
the  New  Testament  and  by  direct  assertion ;  as  if  that  were 
a  necessity  of  any  true  thought  about  Christ.  Yet  in  every 
naming  of  the  affiliated  persons  the  subordination  of  the 
Son  to  the  Father  is  prominent,  without  making  any  dis- 
tinction between  the  internal  and  cosmic  relations  of  the 
Trinity.  The  humanity  is  set  forth  very  positively  as  thor- 
oughly real,  but  only  in  historic  suggestion ;  there  is  no  at- 
tempt at  any  analysis.  In  the  teaching  of  the  Twelve 
there  is  not  quite  the  same  distinctness  and  height  of  affir- 
mation. While  the  Son  appears  as  one  of  the  persons  in 
the  formula  of  baptism,  his  subordination  to  the  Father  is 
the  predominant  thought,  for  Jesus  is  the  Vine  and  the 
Servant,  while  also  Lord.  The  earliest  hymns,  it  would 
seem,  were  the  most  strenuous  witnesses  to  our  Lord's  deity. 
Indeed,  that  conviction  dominated  the  entire  liturgical 
thought  and  form,  possibly  even  in  the  formulae  of  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  Didache.  With  these  authors 
the  operation  of  the  incarnate  Christ  concerns  salvation 
mainly.  There  is  a  singular  absence  of  the  Logos  idea, 
and  of  his  connection  with  the  cosmic  system  in  any  phase. 
The  chief  assault  is  upon  the  Docetic  notion,  but  with  no 
allusion  to  any  specific  school  who  professed  it.  Docetism 
must  be  regarded  as  the  first  effort  to  magnify  the  divine 
nature  at  the  expense  of  the  human,  as  well  as  to  sustain 
the  elevation  and  authority  of  the  spirit  over  the  body. 
With  almost  all  the  primary  Docetists  matter  was  viewed 
askance,  either  as  evil  or  as  lacking  dignity  at  least.  Hence 
to  ascribe  genuine  corporeity  to  God  or  Christ  was  to  de- 
grade and  enslave  both.     In  the  polemic  against  Docetism 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  91 

the  Pseudo-Ignatius  is  the  most  decided  and  aggressive. 
These  letters  abound  in  vigorous  assertions  of  the  deity  and 
humanity  of  Christ  as  the  supreme  realities  of  religion. 

In  so-called  Ebionism  we  have  the  attempt  to  maintain 
the  divine  unity  intact.  Hence  some  forms  of  it  indulge  in 
a  Docetic  interpretation  of  the  humanity  of  Christ ;  others 
lay  the  foundations  of  what  is  generally  called  dynamic 
Monarchianism ;  Jesus  is  but  a  man,  yet  his  conspicuous 
virtues,  and  certain  impartations  of  grace  and  the  Spirit, 
especially  at  baptism,  entitle  him  to  the  highest  considera- 
tion ;  and  in  some  cases  worship  is  accorded  him  because 
he  is  regarded  as  relatively  divine. 

Still  another  movement  of  thought  appears  in  Hermas. 
Existence  before  creation,  and,  indeed,  a  participation  in 
the  divine  councils  concerning  it,  are  affirmed,  but  it  seems 
purposely  to  stop  short  of  declaring  the  eternity  of  our 
Lord,  and,  therefore,  his  essential  deity.  This  appears 
very  much  like  the  beginnings  of  the  higher  rationalism, 
which  we  shall  encounter  directly  in  the  school  of  Antioch. 
The  popularity  of  this  work  must  have  given  a  wide  diffu- 
sion to  this  pre-Arian  drift.  The  speculative  tendency  fills 
a  large  space  in  this  period  in  what  is  styled  Gnosticism. 
While  Platonic  in  its  hostile  idea  of  evil  and  in  much  of  its 
animus,  it  did  not  hesitate  to  seek  the  comprehensiveness 
which  comes  from  the  eclectic  method.  And  nothing  is 
more  curious  in  'the  phenomenal  complexity  and  variety  of 
it,  than  its  universality.  It  swept  like  an  epidemic  for  a 
century  and  a  half  over  Africa,  Europe,  Asia,  and  over  all 
the  provinces  of  these  countries,  and  it  was  as  many-hued 
as  the  familiar  racic  and  local  notions  prevalent  in  the  reg- 
ions it  decimated ;  and  whatever  its  solution  of  the  dual- 
ity— whether  the  system  proceeded  from  the  unconscious 
God  through  his  evolution  into  consciousness  or  whether  it 
took  as  its  first  principle  the  non-existent  and  progressed 


92  THE  INCARNATION 

into  the  existent  to  be  resolved  again  into  the  eternal  blank 
and  solitude ;  whether  it  found  one  or  two  independent 
beginnings  with  corresponding  independent  persons,  or 
used  the  plan  of  single  or  dual  emanation  of  aeons — its 
main  thought  was  to  account  for  evil  apart  from  God,  and 
to  eliminate  this  evil  and  ignorance  from  the  universe,  and 
in  some  cases  superior  knowledge  itself  from  the  psychic 
and  higher  spheres,  by  processes  of  spiritual,  light-subtract- 
ing, and  physical  redemption.  The  media  for  this  salvation 
were  the  Logos,  the  superior  and  the  inferior  Christ,  the 
threefold  Sonship,  and  Jesus.  Some  of  these  were  made 
to  stand  in  more  or  less  close  -connection.  Sophia  was 
constituted  the  material  channel  between  the  divine  and 
the  human,  with  sufficient  passion  upward  or  downward  to 
connect  the  pleroma's  interest  in  evil  with  the  inherent 
iniquity  of  matter ;  or  else  there  was  a  separate  creator  of 
the  hylic  elements,  with  whom  she  became  involved.  In 
most  cases  the  humanity  of  the  Logos  or  the  Christ  was 
simply  Docetic,  because  of  the  inherent  badness  of  cor- 
poreity. Into  the  minor  forms  of  the  system,  especially 
those  that  exhibited  a  revolutionary  ethical  cast,  we  cannot 
enter.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  aim  of  this  massive  specu- 
lation was  to  vindicate  and  liberate  the  spiritual ;  but  that 
spiritual  was  viewed  ontologically  only,  seldom  ethically. 
As  a  consequence  there  was  little  salt  left,  even  in  the  best 
of  the  systems,  to  save  them  in  the  second  generation  from 
corrupt  practices,  and  this,  too,  in  their  worship.  The  in- 
carnation was  either  by  an  accommodating  union  of  aeons 
or  by  Docetism. 

It  was  easy  for  some  of  these  schools  of  thought  to  run 
into  an  eternal  dualism,  toward  which  Marcion  and  Her- 
mogenes  and  parts  of  the  Clementines  incline,  and  which 
Manes  elaborated  so  popularly. 

The  apologists,  as  a  rule,  were  of  the  more  educated  class. 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  93 

In  them  you  have  the  same  general  views  of  the  divinity 
and  humanity  of  our  Lord,  the  current  historic  conception 
of  the  incarnation,  and  its  defense.  The  distinguishing 
element  in  their  literature  is  the  emphasis  on  the  doctrine 
of  the  Logos.  He  is  thoroughly  identified  with  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  Messiah.  It  is  he  who  has  become  man  and 
is  called  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  the  thought  of  subordina- 
tion, however,  and  not  of  equality,  to  the  God  who  begat 
him.  He  has  the  second  place.  Then,  too,  he  is  the  first 
product  of  that  generation,  without  any  sexual  union,  and 
by  a  unique  genesis.  "  He  is  the  only  Son  which  is  born 
as  God's  very  own,  being  his  Logos  and  Prototokos  and 
Dunamis,  who  by  his  own  will  became  man."  Moreover, 
the  Logos  as  Reason  and  Word  is  connected  not  only  with 
creation,  but  with  the  whole  realm  of  creaturehood ;  he  is 
Logos  Spermatikos,  to  whom  universal  human  reason  and 
thought  are  due,  and  eminently  all  the  revelations,  both 
among  the  heathen,  especially  in  their  philosophy,  and 
among  the  Jews  and  Christians.  Justin  even  assails  a 
trace  of  modalism,  although  that  became  a  more  promi- 
nent feature  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  succeeding  period : 
"  For  they  who  affirm  that  the  Son  is  the  Father  are 
proved  neither  to  have  become  acquainted  with  the  Father 
nor  to  know  that  the  Father  of  the  universe  has  a  Son  ;  who 
also,  being  the  first  begotten  Logos  of  God,  is  even  God," 
and  he  became  man.  We  are  therefore  prepared  to  find  a 
much  higher  acknowledgment  of  the  Logos  as  a  person  be- 
gotten of  the  Father's  substance,  or  the  undivided  essence 
of  the  Father ;  here  is  a  crude  and  primary  distinction  be- 
tween the  person  and  the  essence.  Athanagoras  and  the 
other  apologists  are  a  little  less  affirmative,  although  clear 
in  the  deity  and  humanity ;  and  with  them  invariably  the 
Logos  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  he  is  God. 

There  is  still  another  tendency  which  finds  the  com- 


94  THE  INCARNATION 

pleteness  of  the  incarnation  and  the  Messianic  conception 
in  new  revelations  and  a  new  personality.  Such  were 
the  movements  of  Simon  Magus  and  Dositheus,  Mani,  the 
Clementines  in  a  way,  and  a  no  inconsiderable  section  of 
Gnosticism.  In  all  these  the  action  is  represented  as  from 
above  downward ;  it  is  not  a  dynamic  elevation,  but  a 
descent  of  God  to  men.  Genuine  Montanism,  however, 
must  be  distinguished  from  these  dual  incarnation  systems, 
for  that  is  but  the  expansion  of  the  universal  prophetship 
of  believers,  and  the  uninterrupted  flow  of  inspiration  by 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  it  does  not  disturb,  it  rather  confirms,  the 
fundamental  tenets  of  the  Christian  faith. 

We  see,  then,  that  this  post-apostolic  age  lacks  definition, 
and  it  surely  has  little  dream  of  analysis  and  synthesis  of 
dogma.  Its  omissions  are,  indeed,  remarkable;  neverthe- 
less the  seeds  of  all  the  later  growths  are  already  planted. 
The  little  rills  have  already  taken  their  rise  from  the  origi- 
nal fountain,  and  are  on  their  way  to  breadth  of  stream  and 
violence  of  eddies  and  to  volumes  of  rolling  waters. 

II.  The  Second  Period.— -The  old  Catholic  Church  is 
marked  by  the  first  attempts  at  determining  the  relations 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  and  these  controversies, 
again,  are  potent  in  defining  the  incarnation  itself.  The 
direct  Christological  disputes,  however,  begin  to  put  forth 
the  earliest  shoots.  In  the  interpretation  of  God,  dynamic 
Monarchianism  secured  a  wide  geographical  hold.  The 
Ebionitic  name  sank  into  desuetude,  but  a  series  of  teach- 
ers and  their  followers  in  this  vein  appear  in  all  quarters  of 
the  empire.  While  we  know  nothing  of  the  positive  tenets 
of  the  Alogians,  their  very  name  indicates  the  denial  of  the 
Logos  as  a  person  at  least,  and  apparently  they  excluded 
the  Logos  records  of  John  from  their  canon.  We  have 
a  more  positive  averment  of  the  dynamic  quality  in  the 
Byzantine  currier  Theodotus,  who  brought  his  doctrine  to 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  95 

Rome,  where  it  secured  recognition  from  the  bishop  him- 
self. His  tenet  conceded  the  intervention  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  birth  of  our  Lord,  but  allowed  of  no  union  between  the 
divine  and  the  human.  Christ  was  simply  man,  who,  how- 
ever, was  eminently  distinguished  from  others  by  God  in 
virtue  of  his  righteousness.  A  later  teacher  of  this  group 
in  Rome  was  Artemon.  There  remains,  however,  no  sen- 
tence by  which  we  can  judge  of  his  treatment  of  the  dy- 
namic concept.  It  is  well  to  remember  the  claim  set  forth 
by  him,  that  the  convictions  of  the  bishops  of  Rome  prior 
to  Victor  (189)  were  of  this  school. 

A  remarkable  expounder  of  this  system  was  Paul,  Bishop 
of  Samosata.  In  order  to  sustain  Monarchianism,  he  re- 
solved the  Fatherhood,  the  Logos,  both  as  endiathetos  and 
as  prophorikos,  and  the  Sophia  into  attributes  of  the  one 
God.  He  conceded  the  intervention  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
birth  of  Christ  from  the  Virgin ;  but  the  progress  of  Christ 
into  divinity  was  due  solely  to  the  expansion  of  implanted 
excellence  and  worth,  or  else  the  divine  reason  was  im- 
parted to  him  in  a  supreme  degree,  but  with  no  other  rela- 
tion than  that  of  an  energy. 

A  peculiar  dynamic  subordination  tendency  appears  in 
Theodotus,  the  banker,  at  Rome.  Melchizedek  to  him  was 
a  higher  manifestation  of  God  than  Christ.  Our  Lord  was 
given  a  station  second  to  that  of  the  king  of  Salem,  as  if  in 
the  latter  there  were  more  of  the  elements  of  deity,  and 
because  our  Lord  is  made  a  high  priest  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek.  That  servant  of  the  Most  High  God  he  re- 
garded as  a  mediator  for  angels,  while  Christ  was  only  so 
for  men. 

The  next  tendency  is  modalistic  Monarchianism,  whose 
first  appearance  we  have  seen  combated  by  Justin  Martyr. 
Of  course  its  object  was  to  maintain  the  oneness  of  God. 
Its  incipient  phase  was  to  identify  the  divine  beings  as 


96  THE  INCARNATION 

one  and  the  same,  and  particularly  so  with  regard  to  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  A  variety  of  expressions  has  been  left 
us  to  describe  this  substantive  identity.  The  Father  him- 
self became  incarnate  as  Son,  and  passed  through  all  human 
experiences,  but  both  these  are  movements  and  manifesta- 
tions of  the  one  God.  It  was  on  this  account  that  its  pro- 
fessors were  called  Patripassians.  The  doctrine  was  brought 
to  Rome  from  the  East  by  Praxeas  and  Noetus,  and  ob- 
tained recognition  among  the  bishops  of  that  city,  especially 
Callistus,  which  fact  led  to  the  persecution  of  the  subordi- 
nationists.  By  this  interpretation  the  reality  of  the  hu- 
manity was  thought  to  be  preserved,  as  well  as  the  unity 
of  the  Godhead  to  be  confirmed.  Certainly  this  was  the 
intention ;  but  the  difficult  questions  of  the  immutability  of 
God,  and  his  sovereignty  in  the  interval  of  the  human  limita- 
tions, were  not  answered  by  this  exposition,  and  the  phe- 
nomena of  crucifixion  and  death  were  apt  to  receive  a 
Docetic  resolution. 

Perhaps  we  may  discover  a  subtler  outline  of  modalism 
in  the  fragments  of  Beryllus,  Bishop  of  Arabia.  The  pre- 
existence  of  Christ  seems  to  have  been  recognized,  but  its 
distinctiveness  was  lost,  for  our  Lord  had  not  his  own  share 
in  the  essence,  but  possessed  that  of  the  paternal  Godhead. 
This  looks  like  a  variant  of  the  ~Logos-endiathetos  theory, 
for  apparently  this  paternal  essence  exerted  no  influence  in 
forming  a  union  with  human  nature  by  means  of  the  super- 
natural birth.  It  would  appear  that,  after  all,  Beryllus  re- 
garded Christ  as  a  mere  man,  whose  uplift  was  due  to  the 
inherent  energy  of  his  virtue,  or  the  communicated  gifts  of 
God,  or  the  power  of  the  merely  indwelling,  but  not  united, 
Logos.     Origen  converted  him  from  these  errors. 

The  subtlest  and  most  widely  diffused  cast  of  modalism 
was  that  of  Sabellius.  He  carried  it  to  Rome,  indeed,  but 
it  had  its  strongest  following  in  the  Pentapolis.    The  natural 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  97 

sun  in  the  heavens  is  one  substance,  but  it  has  three  ener- 
gies :  the  form  of  the  periphery,  the  capacity  of  light,  and 
the  function  of  heat.  Similarly  God  is  a  monad,  at  first 
quiescent ;  through  expansion  and  contraction  he  assumes 
successively  the  masks  of  Father  and  of  Son  and  of  Holy 
Spirit,  and  performs  their  respective  offices.  The  entire 
monad  is  in  each  of  these  manifestations,  and  after  the  re- 
spective functions  are  fulfilled  there  is  the  return  into  the 
original  divine  solitariness.  The  processes  of  incarnation 
and  procession  are  set  forth  from  the  divine  side ;  the 
human  certainly  loses  its  reality ;  the  phenomena  do  seem 
masks,  and  carry  the  air  of  Docetism.  By  Sabellius  we 
have  the  abundant  use  of  the  great  words  which  enter  into 
the  portentous  debate.  The  hypostasis,  the  prosopa,  the 
ousia,  the  homoousia,  are  all  in  his  vocabulary.  And  this 
very  fact  necessitated  subsequent  changes  in  their  meaning, 
and  became  a  barrier  to  their  general  acceptance,  and  led 
to  interminable  confusion  in  their  use  during  the  heated 
discussions  to  which  we  come  in  the  next  period. 

The  school  whose  teaching  was  reaching  forward  to  a 
Trinitarian  statement  which  could  harmonize  with  the  real- 
ity of  the  incarnation  and  the  distinctness  of  the  proces- 
sion, still  labored  with  the  problem  of  reconciling  Godhead 
with  the  facts  of  subordination.  The  interrelations  of  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  were  not  clearly  dis- 
tinguished from  their  operative  conditions.  The  subordina- 
tion was  carried  within  the  divine  council  itself ;  the  facts 
of  the  ungenerate  and  the  generate,  which  from  human 
analogy  seem  to  require  a  sequence,  added  to  the  diffi- 
culty. The  use  of  the  speculative  terms  of  the  Logos  as 
endiathetos,  and  as  afterward  prophorikos,  complicated  the 
problem  still  more.  Another  element  of  disturbance  was 
the  identification  of  the  Sophia  of  Proverbs  with  the  Logos ; 


98  THE  INCARNATION 

and  the  famous  passage  viii.  22,  according  to  the  Septua- 
gint,  read  :  "  The  Lord  created  me  a  beginning  of  his  ways 
for  his  works."  Had  they  but  known  their  Hebrew!  Sub- 
ordination, then,  had  to  begin  at  its  lowest  rung  in  Dionys- 
ius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  work  its  way  out  of  the 
chaos  into  order  and  light. 

Out  of  the  multitude  of  writers  of  this  period,  Eastern, 
Western,  notably  the  presbyters  whom  Irenseus  quotes, 
Irenseus  himself,  one  of  the  chief  intellects  of  this  date  in 
determining  the  old  Catholic  faith,  Hippolytus,  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  Origen,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Lactantius,  to- 
gether with  the  incipient  church  creeds  so  frequently  alluded 
to  and  quoted  by  them,  the  following  tendencies  became 
apparent : 

(a)  Subordinationism.  The  extreme  statement  of  this 
was  made  by  Dionysius  the  Great  when  he  declared  that 
the  essence  [oiisid)  of  Christ  was  as  alien  to  that  of  the  Father 
as  the  husbandman  to  the  vine  and  the  sailor  to  the  boat, 
and  was  like  a  work  which  had  no  existence  before  it  was 
produced.  This  extreme  utterance  was  really  designed  for 
a  polemic  against  Sabellianism.  Athanasius  apologizes  for 
him.  Indeed,  the  unfortunate  sentence  verges  on  the  later 
Arian  position ;  but  under  the  persuasion  of  his  namesake 
at  Rome,  he  withdrew  his  objectionable  phraseology.  While 
in  general  the  deity  of  Christ  is  confessed,  and,  therefore, 
the  distinctness  of  his  hypostasis,  he  nevertheless  is  called, 
as  previously,  the  second  God,  or  as  a  God  after  the  God. 
Origen  also  urges  a  difference  of  ousia,  while  in  other  places 
he  dwells  upon  Christ's  selfhood,  his  self-activity,  his  dis- 
tinctness of  attributes. 

{p)  The  persons  begin  to  be  distinguished,  and  the  essence 
is  viewed  in  its  differentiation  from  the  personality.  The 
attributes  are  mainly  connected  with  the  hypostasis,  while 
the  nature,  or  the  essence,  is  looked  upon  ontologically  or  as 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  99 

simple  being.  But  one  is  in  danger  of  confusion,  owing  to 
the  lack  of  clear  statement  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  terms, 
epecially  those  which  had  been  employed  by  Sabellius. 

(c)  The  Logos  is  now  one  of  the  chief  terms  in  the  the- 
ology, especially  of  the  Alexandrian  school  under  Clemens 
Alexandrinus  and  Origen.  The  spermatic  quality  is  one 
of  the  dominating  thoughts.  The  affinity  of  the  Word 
and  Wisdom  and  Will  with  all  nature  and  all  humanity  is 
beautifully  set  forth ;  a  truth  that  Occidental  theology,  alas! 
has  lost  sight  of  these  many  centuries,  to  its  own  narrow- 
ness, to  its  own  aridity,  to  its  hostility,  indeed,  to  the 
beauty  and  import  of  the  divine  handiwork,  and  to  the  life 
of  the  heathen ;  to  the  suppression  of  even  a  poetry  of 
nature,  and  to  the  injury  of  the  loftiest  conceptions  of  art. 
Then,  too,  the  Logos,  in  his  alliance  with  revelation  and 
redemption,  received  a  stronger  accent  by  men  of  the  East 
than  of  the  West. 

(d)  The  doctrine  of  the  eternal  generation  of  the  Son 
was  propounded  by  Origen,  not  only  as  a  solitary  unique 
act,  but  as  a  perpetual  procedure ;  the  Father  always  gen- 
erates the  Son.  The  disposition  to  suggest  analogies  with 
human  conception  and  birth,  the  obtrusive  effort  to  unveil 
the  mystery  in  physical  explanations,  is  indignantly  repressed 
by  the  chief  theologians.  They  leave  it  as  a  proposition 
not  to  be  resolved  by  reason,  but  to  be  received  as  a  fact 
by  faith. 

(<?)  Tertullian  draws  attention  to  a  threefold  process  in 
the  filiation  of  Christ,  which  is  an  enlargement  on  the  Phi- 
Ionic  Logos :  (i)  the  immanence  of  the  Son  in  the  Father; 
(2)  the  projection  of  the  Son  alongside  of  the  Father  in 
the  process  of  creation ;  and  then  (3)  the  Son's  incarnation. 
This  forges  a  logical  link  between  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
Son  of  man ;  it  prepares  the  way  for  the  development  of 
that  theory  of  the  incarnation  which  will  soon  meet  us. 


ioo  THE  INCARNATION 

In  the  direct  Christology  of  this  period,  while  there  are 
variations  of  statement  in  each  author,  while  there  is  by- 
no  means  a  consensus  between  different  writers  even  on  the 
more  important  topics,  all  do  agree  in  the  supernatural  con- 
ception, in  the  exceptional  quality  of  the  humanity,  al- 
though its  general  similarity  with  our  nature  is  insisted  upon ; 
and  a  certain  method  of  union  between  the  human  and  the 
divine  is  instituted.  Let  us  look  at  the  prominent  features 
in  this  doctrine : 

(a)  The  generation.  As  usual,  the  curious  pry  pruriently 
into  this  mystery ;  but  the  greater  minds  are  content  with 
the  historic  statement ;  the  participation  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  mystery  is  recognized ;  the  vir- 
ginity of  Mary  is  an  absolute  belief ;  the  Logos  presence  in 
the  conception  is  generally  accepted,  although  some  think 
that  the  divine  linked  itself  with  the  human  after  the  birth 
of  the  child.  The  blessed  union  of  God  and  man  is  a 
theme  of  devoutest  song  and  creed. 

(b)  There  is,  however,  a  great  obscurity  as  to  the  exact 
nature  of  Christ's  human  constitution.  The  majority  of  the 
orthodox  are  dichotomists.  They,  for  the  most  part,  insist 
on  the  body  and  the  soul  as  components  of  the  man  Jesus. 
But  the  nous  of  the  soul  is  viewed  by  some  as  not  a  human 
intelligence  ;  the  divine  Logos  or  reason  is  presumed  to  have 
taken  its  place,  and  the  nexus  of  the  human  and  divine  is 
found  herein.  This  is  an  anticipation  of  Apollinarianism. 
Some  also  waver  in  attributing  human  necessities  and  weak- 
nesses, appetite  and  passion,  to  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
they  are  apt  to  practise  a  moderate  Docetism  in  the  matter 
of  sleep  and  eating  and  drinking;  notably  Clemens  Alex- 
andrinus.  There  were  others,  again,  who  held  that  Christ 
brought  a  physical  frame  with  him  from  heaven ;  it  was  a 
celestial  body  in  which  the  Logos  dwelt.  Such  was  the 
anxiety  to  preserve  the  divinity  and  majesty  of  Jesus  un- 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  101 

tarnished.  So  difficult  is  it  for  men  to  see  that,  apart  from 
the  religious  and  ethical  problems  involved,  the  way  of 
God  is  always  the  best,  and  is  the  highest  and  the  dearest 
to  himself,  whether  it  lead  through  lowly  tracks  or  through 
the  most  exalted  spiritual  realms. 

(c)  The  union  between  the  human  and  divine  was  not 
defined,  except  in  the  attempt  to  substitute  the  Logos  for 
the  intellect.  Nor  were  the  qualities  of  the  natures  dif- 
ferentiated with  any  accuracy ;  nor  was  the  relation  of  the 
person  to  the  natures  made  clear,  although  the  bent  was 
to  regard  the  person  as  the  Logos,  and  therefore  divine. 
Yet  in  this  lay  the  entire  area  of  future  Christological  con- 
troversy. There  was  already  the  vocable  Deus-homo  or 
Theanthropos,  and  the  inclination  of  the  Alexandrians  espe- 
cially was  to  glorify  the  divine  and  minify  the  human.  In- 
deed, some  dared  even  indulge  the  conviction  that  with 
the  ascension  of  Christ  the  human  nature,  body  and  all, 
disappeared  entirely.  With  a  school  like  that  of  Antioch 
under  Lucian,  although  we  have  no  definite  records,  it  is  suffi- 
ciently evident  that  the  standpoint  was  to  exalt  the  human- 
ity at  the  expense  of  the  divinity,  and  to  make  the  union  of 
the  two  natures  a  mere  relation,  without  a  vital  interplay. 

There  are  distinct  utterances,  too,  as  to  the  use  of  the 
divine  attributes  in  the  incarnate  sphere.  The  word  xpo<j:<; 
is  already  employed  to  describe  the  reserve  of  omniscience 
and  omnipotence  ;  it  was  contemplated  as  a  necessary  stage 
of  the  humiliation. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  testimony  is  universal  as  to  the 
sinlessness  of  our  Lord,  even  by  the  majority  of  the  dynamic 
theologians. 

(d)  Probably  the  best  summary  of  the  general  belief  is 
found  in  the  statement  of  Tertullian's  creed : 

"  We  believe,  indeed,  in  the  one  God  only,  nevertheless, 
in  this  dispensation  which  we  call  economy.    So  that  there 


102  THE  INCARNATION 

is  a  Son  of  this  one  only  God,  his  own  Sermo,  who  pro- 
ceeded from  himself,  through  whom  all  things  were  made, 
and  without  whom  not  anything  was  made.  He  was  sent 
by  the  Father  into  the  Virgin,  and  was  born  of  her,  Man 
and  God,  Son  of  man  and  Son  of  God,  and  called  Jesus 
Christ." 

The  creed  of  Csesarea  gives  us  even  a  fuller  Christology : 

"  Following  the  evangelical  and  apostolic  tradition,  we 
believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  the  Demiurge 
and  Maker  and  Forethinker  of  all  things. 

"And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  the  only  begot- 
ten God ;  through  whom  all  things  came  into  being ;  who 
was  begotten  before  the  aeons,  from  the  Father,  God  from 
God,  the  whole  from  the  whole,  the  only  from  the  only,  the 
perfect  from  the  perfect,  King  from  King,  Lord  from  Lord ; 
the  living  Logos,  wisdom,  life,  genuine  light,  way,  truth, 
resurrection,  shepherd,  door;  unchangeable  and  unalter- 
able; the  immutable  image  of  the  Godhead,  and  of  the 
essence,  and  of  the  will,  and  of  the  power,  and  of  the  glory 
of  the  Father ;  the  first-born  of  all  creation.  Who  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God  ;  through  whom  all  things  became, 
and  in  whom  all  things  consist ;  who  in  the  last  days  came 
down  from  above  and  was  begotten  of  the  Virgin,  accord- 
ing to  the  Scripture,  and  became  man  ;  the  mediator  between 
God  and  man ;  the  Apostle  of  our  faith  and  the  Prince  of 
life,  as  he  says :  '  I  have  come  down  from  heaven,  not  to 
do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  who  sent  me.' " 

III.  The  State-church  Period. — This  stage  is  remarkable 
for  its  ecclesiastical  settlement  of  the  fundamental  points  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  for  its  equally  distinctive 
and  authoritative  definitions  in  points  of  Christology.  It 
is,  indeed,  the  age  of  largest  and  fiercest  controversy,  as 
well  as  of  political  interference.  The  union  of  church  and 
state  in  a  Csesaropapistic  form  had  its  influence  upon  the 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  103 

decisions  reached.  All  sides  invoked  the  imperial  force, 
and  all  sides  in  turn  felt  the  humiliation  which  issued  from 
this  perversion  of  the  divine  kingdom's  liberty. 

1.  The  slumbering  rationalism  of  Antioch  asserted  itself 
in  the  heart  of  Alexandria  under  the  leadership  of  Arius,  a 
pupil  of  Lucian.  His  chief  theses,  not  without  manifest 
contradiction,  were : 

(a)  That  there  was  a  time  in  which  Christ  did  not  exist. 
He  is  a  Son ;  he  is  begotten,  and  not  ungenerate.  From 
not  being  at  all,  he  exists. 

(b)  God  was  not  always  the  Father,  but  became  one 
afterward. 

(c)  Christ  has  no  part  of  the  unbegotten  one  in  him ;  he 
is  not  of  the  Father;  he  has  no  property  in  the  essence 
of  the  Father. 

(d)  He  is  a  creature  and  a  product;  Christ  is  not  true 
God,  but  he  partakes  of  God  and  is  deified.  He  was  made 
before  all  other  things,  and  not  out  of  anything  that  exists, 
and  is  a  product  of  the  divine  will. 

(<?)  The  Son  does  not  know  the  Father  accurately,  nor 
does  the  Logos  see  the  Father  perfectly ;  therefore  he  does 
not  have  absolutely  complete  powers.  He  is  susceptible  of 
increase  and  decrease.  He  is  subject  to  all  the  changes 
of  a  creature. 

(/)  He  is  not  the  genuine  and  only  Logos  of  the  Father, 
but  is  simply  Logos  and  Sophia  nominally,  and  by  grace  he 
is  said  to  be  a  Son  and  a  Power.  We  have  here  an  adop- 
tional  idea  of  the  Sonship. 

2.  The  discussion  which  now  arose  led  to  the  mainte- 
nance of : 

(a)  The  identity  of  Logos,  Wisdom,  the  Son  of  God,  and 
Jesus. 

(b)  The  reality  of  the  Sonship,  and  therefore  the  reality 
of  the  generation. 


104  THE  INCARNATION 

(c)  The  definition  of  the  perichoresis  or  inner  relation  of 
the  Trinity :  the  Father  unbegotten,  the  Son  generated,  the 
Spirit  the  object  of  procession. 

The  dogma  that  the  Son  was  God,  consubstantial  with 
God,  having  the  same  attributes,  distinct  in  person,  that  he 
was  therefore  eternal. 

To  attain  this  end  a  minority  in  the  Council  of  Nice 
persuaded  the  majority — who,  indeed,  held  to  the  deity  of 
Christ,  as  their  church  creeds  proved — to  accept  the  defini- 
tive term  homoousios  as  the  positive  exposition  of  the  same- 
ness of  essence.  In  spite  of  its  previous  Sabellian  coloring, 
that  seemed  the  only  word  that  would  settle  the  point  at 
issue ;  and  it  did  win  the  day,  and  determined  the  central 
dogma  of  the  church  Catholic. 

It  is  well  to  note  here,  also,  the  phraseology  of  the 
symbol  concerning  the  human  Sonship  as  over  against  the 
Arian  conception.  After  dwelling  upon  his  creative  energy, 
it  says :  "  Who  on  account  of  us  men,  and  for  our  salva- 
tion, descended,  and  became  flesh,  and  became  a  man." 
The  great  end  of  the  incarnation  was  for  the  help  of 
humanity,  for  the  salvation  of  the  men  who  live,  who  stand 
in  relations,  who  are  in  sin,  who  struggle  to  better  things 
or  sink  to  lower,  who  suffer,  who  die.  This  is  the  noble, 
sacrificial,  salvatory  end  of  the  incarnation  as  defined  by 
the  Nicene  Symbol.  It  is  a  universal  benefit,  for  conferring 
which  the  benign  Logos  became  also  a  Son  of  man. 

Into  the  Trinitarian  and  Arian  battles  that  ensued  after 
Nicaea,  we  cannot  enter,  nor  criticize  the  temper  and  fierce- 
ness and  cruelty  and  falsehood  of  most  of  its  participants. 
We  may  only  indicate  the  suggestions  of  religious  and  politi- 
cal compromise  in  order  to  escape  from  the  dread  and  final 
homoousia.     These  were  mainly  four: 

(a)  The  substitution  of  Homoiousianism,  or  similarity  of 
substance. 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  105 

(b)  The  adoption  of  Homoism  as  indicating  general 
sameness,  without  distinct  reference  to  the  substance. 

(c)  The  theory  of  Anomoism,  or  total  unlikeness. 

(d)  The  dropping  of  all  allusion  to  the  controverted 
point. 

But  the  Homoousia  triumphed,  and  the  state  church 
finally  determined  its  Christological  belief  to  be : 

"  We  believe  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  begot- 
ten Son  of  God;  who  was  born  of  the  Father  before  all 
aeons ;  Light  of  Light,  true  God  from  true  God ;  begotten, 
not  made  ;  consubstantial  with  the  Father ;  through  whom 
all  things  were  made ;  who  on  account  of  us  men,  and  for 
our  salvation,  descended  from  the  heavens,  and  became 
flesh  from  the  Holy  Spirit  and  Mary  the  Virgin,  and  was 
made  man." 

Athanasius  is  doubtless  the  best  Greek  expositor,  histori- 
cally, scripturally,  and  practically,  of  the  Nicene  theology, 
although  by  no  means  the  best  logician.  The  treatise  on 
the  Incarnation  is  the  positive  counterpart  of  his  Apology, 
and  is  full  of  heart  and  of  most  loving  appeal  to  accept 
the  excellent  way  of  God  in  Christ.  The  incarnation 
answers  the  deep  needs  of  man,  and  that  is  his  choicest 
argument.  In  the  other  treatises  there  is,  with  the  fasci- 
nating history  of  the  momentous  debate,  a  repetition  of 
the  arguments,  mainly  drawn  from  Scripture.  The  three 
Cappadocians  made  no  real  progress  in  the  debate.  At 
first  they  found  it  difficult  to  cut  loose  from  the  very  positive 
subordination  views  of  Origen.  Hilary  carried  the  Atha- 
nasian  fervor  to  the  West  with  a  superior  light,  and  some- 
times fought  single-handed  against  the  Arian  politicians. 
It  was  Augustine,  however,  who  brought  a  new  specula- 
tion to  bear  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  He  vacated 
the  Eastern  starting-point,  as  we  see  it  particularly  in  the 
Nicene  Symbol  of  God  the  Father  Almighty.     He  begins 


106  THE  INCARNATION 

with  the  one  triune  God.  He  also  ceases  to  consider 
them  chiefly  in  their  personal  relationship,  and  builds  upon 
the  psychological  analogy  in  man,  who  has  memory,  intel- 
ligence, and  will,  and  yet  it  is  the  one  man  who  possesses  and 
exercises  these  faculties.  Alas!  his  analogy  fails  him,  and 
although  he  confesses  the  insufficiency  thereof  he  ever  re- 
curs to  it.  The  correspondences  in  the  Trinity  are  wisdom, 
consciousness,  and  love.  But  these  are  not  persons,  though 
they  be  functions  of  personality.  It  was  this  treatment 
which  gave  tone  to  almost  all  the  subsequent  Western  trea- 
tises. Yet  Augustine's  work  on  the  Trinity — the  affectionate 
labor  of  thirty  years — will  always  remain  a  high  classic  on 
this  theme.  The  Quicunque  contains  the  clearest  result  of 
the  fides  Catholica,  asserting  the  Trinity,  guarding  against 
confusion  of  the  persons,  upholding  the  unity  of  the  God- 
head ;  for  the  three  alike  are  increatus,  immensus,  ceternus, 
omnipotens,  and  yet  these  are  all  predicates  of  the  one 
nature.  So  a  bulwark  against  tritheism  is  erected.  Then 
the  true  perichoresis  is  stated:  the  Father  was  not  made 
nor  created  nor  begotten  ;  the  Son  is  from  the  Father  alone, 
not  made  nor  created,  but  begotten.  Therefore  in  this 
Trinity  there  is  no  precedence,  but  coequality ;  it  does  not 
advance  to  the  economic  moment.  These  are  the  main 
conclusions  in  which  the  Western  Church  rested  for  cen- 
turies. The  Eastern  had  more  positive  struggles  with  trithe- 
ism and  tetratheism.  There  were  also  two  curious  phases 
of  Logos  teaching : 

(a)  The  one  by  Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  which  represented 
the  Logos  as  first  in  a  state  of  quiescence  and  then  of  drastic 
energy,  issuing  from  God  in  his  operative  occasions.  But 
the  Son  of  God  was  not  preexistent ;  that  name  was  won 
by  the  drastic  Logos  in  the  earthly  sphere ;  it  applied  only 
to  the  Christ  of  the  Gospels. 

(b)  Photinus  seems  to  have  made  a  still  broader  gulf  be- 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  107 

tween  the  Logos  and  the  Son  of  God.  It  would  appear  that 
he  had  inclined  to  a  more  dynamic  view  of  the  humanity 
of  our  Lord. 

The  mystic  tendency  developed  by  Dionysius  the  Areop- 
agite  places  its  goal  in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  the 
divine  vision.  The  incarnation  is  esteemed  as  the  medium 
for  disclosing  its  possibility,  especially  through  the  sacra- 
ments. The  human  life  of  Christ,  however,  has  no  place 
in  the  system,  which  really  has  more  to  do  with  the 
preexistent  Logos  after  the  sacramental  grace  is  once 
established ;  it  loses  itself  in  a  contemplative  ecstasy.  But 
this  phase  of  belief,  although  it  originated  in  the  East, 
exerted  an  immense  influence  in  all  branches  of  the  church, 
and  does  so  to-day. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  more  directly  Christological  un- 
foldings  of  this  period. 

(a)  As  we  have  already  seen,  the  Arian  dip  subjected 
Christ  as  a  creature  to  mutations.  It  also  limited  him  on 
his  preexistent  side,  but  made  him  susceptible  of  progress 
therein,  as  well  as  in  the  human  sphere.  It  has  the  merit, 
however,  of  drawing  a  profounder  attention  to  the  human- 
ity, especially  to  its  capacity  for  development.  In  many 
cases,  however,  the  boundary-lines  were  conceived  of  as 
having  in  them  the  possibilities  and  even  probabilities  of 
sin.  Arius  himself  held  that  the  human  nature  was  pec- 
cable. The  opinions  of  Aetius  and  Eunomius  tended  to 
nullify  even  the  superior  qualities  of  our  Lord's  earthly  life, 
and  to  make  him  all  too  much  like  one  of  us. 

(b)  The  theandric  drift  also  manifested  itself  unduly. 
The  Alexandrians  were  prone  to  this ;  Athanasius  himself 
thought  that  the  humanity  was  well-nigh  lost  in  the  union 
with  the  divine.  Hilary,  in  the  West,  reflected  much  of  the 
sensitiveness  that  characterized  Clemens  Alexandrinus  on 
this  question. 


lo8  THE  INCARNATION 

(c)  The  problem  of  the  union  was  taken  up  with  decision 
in  this  period  first  by  Apollinaris.  His  theory  was  that  of 
a  trichotomous  constitution,  consisting  of  the  body,  the  un- 
reasoning soul,  and  the  reasoning  soul.  Now  in  Christ  the 
Logos  took  the  place  of  the  rational  soul.  This  was  not 
the  incarnation  itself,  which  lay  in  the  fact  of  the  Logos 
becoming  flesh,  but  it  did  furnish  the  basis  of  the  union 
and  the  unity  as  well.  Here  would  be  the  throne  of  the 
thought  and  the  will,  by  which  the  entire  human  life  might 
be  kept  in  harmony  with  the  divine  moral  necessity.  This 
would  prevent  a  wrong  choice ;  it  would  also  compel  an 
upward  development  of  both  soul  and  body.  And  this  too 
furnished  the  fairest  opportunity  for  the  interpenetration  of 
the  divine  into  the  human.  The  decision  of  the  councils, 
however,  affirmed  the  completeness  of  the  human  constitu- 
tion of  Christ ;  he  had  a  rational  and  an  appetent  soul  and 
a  body,  or  a  spirit,  soul,  and  body,  according  to  another 
psychological  view.  Such  was  the  confirmation  of  the  per- 
fect humanity  of  our  Lord. 

(d)  There  came  next  into  dispute  the  way  in  which  the 
two  natures  stood  related  to  one  another.  The  Alexandrian 
tendency  was  to  make  it  a  real,  natural  unity,  and  in  such 
wise,  (i)  according  to  one  position,  that  the  human  was 
more  and  more  absorbed  into  the  divine ;  and,  (2)  accord- 
ing to  another  impression,  that  there  resulted  a  tertium 
quid,  namely,  a  real  Theanthropos,  an  entirely  unique  genus, 
a  God-man.  Both  persuasions  began  to  posit  other  medi- 
ators, especially  by  elaborating  the  cult  of  Mary.  She  was 
adored  as  the  Theotokos.  This  second  shade  of  the  physical 
unity  developed  into  Monophysitism,  whose  profession  sub- 
sequently led  to  a  permanent  division  in  the  church.  In 
the  evolution  of  this  doctrine  such  refinements  of  discus- 
sion arose  as  these :  Had  Christ  a  corruptible  body  or 
not  ?     Again,  although  he  was  a  Son,  was  his  body  ere- 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  109 

ated  ?  Others,  again,  believed  that  he  had  brought  a  divine 
body  with  him  into  the  earth.  We  cannot  enter  into  phases 
of  conciliar  action  regarding  these  larger  and  smaller  de- 
bates; we  must  confine  ourselves  to  indicating  the  main 
trend. 

The  Antiochans,  on  the  other  hand,  made  the  union 
consist  in  a  mere  contact — synapheia.  In  some  writers  the 
sharpest  lines  were  drawn  between  the  dual  elements,  but 
as  a  rule  the  theologians  held  to  the  dignity  of  the  human 
nature,  and  worshiped  it  with  the  divine.  They  also  de- 
sired to  separate  the  majesty  and  glory  of  the  divine  from 
all  the  limitations  and  suffering  of  humanity ;  they  did  not 
like  such  expressions  as  Theotokos,  or  the  phrases  that  de- 
picted God  as  subject  to  anguish  or  as  dying  on  the  cross. 
They  allowed  for  but  little  intercommunion  of  the  attri- 
butes, whether  as  between  person  and  natures  or  as  between 
the  natures  themselves.  In  their  study  of  the  manhood  of 
Jesus  the  following  theses  were  asserted : 

(a)  That  Christ  in  his  humanity  is  peccable,  although 
he  did  not  sin. 

(b)  That  in  his  humanity  he  was  ignorant  of  many  things 
and  was  capable  of  learning  and  improvement ;  in  other 
words,  his  manhood  was  progressive.  This  agnostic  thought 
had  its  representatives,  strange  to  say,  among  the  Monophy- 
sites  also — such  are  some  of  the  cross-purposes  of  theology. 

(c)  That  there  was,  therefore,  a  manifest  chasm  between 
the  divine  and  the  human;  there  was  no  interplay  of  the 
attributes. 

(d)  That,  consequently,  the  humiliation  of  Christ  in- 
volved the  kenosis  of  the  divine  attributes,  the  actual  sur- 
render of  exercise,  although  again  here  some  held  only  to 
the  voluntary  concealment  of  them. 

(<?)  There  was  a  sort  of  parallel,  after  a  favorite  habit  of 
Gnosticism,  between  the  life  of  Christ  in  the  incarnation 


no  THE  INCARNATION 

and  onward  and  the  redemption  of  the  race.  Christ  as  the 
man  was  put  in  constant  harmonized  comparison  with  the 
race  as  a  whole. 

(/)  That  his  human  nature  is  without  personality.  The 
person  is  divine  in  which  the  divine  nature  subsists,  and 
into  which  the  manhood  is  assumed.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  was  a  certain  trend,  and  claim  as  well,  for  a  dual 
personality  corresponding  to  the  two  natures. 

These  conflicting  schools,  with  alternating  success,  finally 
closed  their  individual  preferences  in  the  compromise  of 
Chalcedon,  whose  symbol  is  of  the  highest  Christological 
import. 

The  subsequent  efforts  to  win  the  Monophysites  led  to 
such  concessions  as  theopaschism,  a  compromise  which  in- 
volved a  real  physical  unity.  And  still  later  the  effort  to 
establish,  by  imperial  decree,  the  monotheletic  tenet  that 
there  is  but  the  one  will  and  theandric  energy  in  Christ,  was 
another  such  surrender.  The  church,  however,  refused  to 
accede,  and  insisted  on  a  dyotheletic  confession — that  is,  a 
will  and  energy  for  each  nature.  Will  and  doubtless  con- 
sciousness were  thus  taken  from  the  person  and  centered 
in  the  natures,  an  important  psychologic  result,  which  re- 
appears in  Protestant  Christological  researches. 

One  of  the  clearest  statements  of  these  Christological  con- 
clusions is  to  be  found  in  the  Quicunque.  As  to  the  incar- 
nation it  teaches  that  Christ  is : 

i .  The  Son  of  God  from  the  substance  of  the  Father,  be- 
gotten before  the  ages ;  and  that  God  is  man  from  the  sub- 
stance of  his  mother,  and  born  in  the  world. 

2.  Perfect  God,  as  before  shown  in  the  section  on  the 
Trinity;  perfect  man  also,  having  in  his  constitution  a 
rational  soul  and  human  flesh. 

3.  Equal  to  the  Father  according  to  divinity,  inferior  to 
the  Father  according  to  his  humanity. 

4.  He  is  the  only,  the  one  Christ,  not  by  conversion  of 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  ill 

the  Godhead  into  flesh,  but  by  the  assumption  of  human- 
ity into  God. 

5.  One  altogether,  not  by  confusion  of  substance,  but 
by  unity  of  person. 

6.  For  as  the  rational  soul  and  the  flesh  constitute  one 
man,  so  God  and  man  constitute  the  one  Christ. 

The  writers  who  finally  shaped  the  Greek  theology  on 
these  points  were  Leontius  of  Byzantium  and  John  of 
Damascus.  We  would  draw  attention  to  a  few  of  the 
distinguishing  points  of  the  latter : 

1 .  God  was  never  without  the  Logos ;  rather,  the  Logos 
is  generated  from  him.  He  is  enhypostatic,  not  like  our 
reason  or  utterance ;  he  never  lives  apart  from  God. 

2.  The  genesis  of  the  Son  of  God  was  without  time  and 
without  beginning;  for  he  was  not  produced  from  non- 
existence into  existence.  He  is  the  splendor  of  the  glory, 
the  impress  of  the  substance  of  the  Father ;  the  living  wis- 
dom and  power ;  the  Logos  who  is  enhypostatized.  He  is 
coeternal  with  the  Father.  His  divine  generation  must  be 
distinguished  from  creation. 

3.  The  generation  itself  is  eternal.  He  is  of  the  same 
eternal  essence,  just  as  fire  and  light  are  simultaneous.  The 
perichoresis,  so  far  as  the  dyad  is  concerned,  consists  in 
this :  the  Father  is  ingenerate,  the  Son  is  generate ;  for  he 
is  of  the  essence  of  the  Father,  begotten  outside  of  time, 
and  without  beginning.  He  is  not  an  organon  or  instru- 
ment, but  a  native  force. 

4.  John  ascribes  properties  to  the  persons  and  hence  to 
the  person  of  Christ.  There  are  also  idiomata  of  the 
divine  nature.  The  persons  are  in  one  another,  yet  with- 
out confusion  and  mixture ;  so  with  the  natures  of  Christ. 
It  is  the  Logos-person,  who  is  incarnated  through  Mary. 
The  idiomata  of  person  and  natures  are  communicable. 
Beyond  the  theology  of  John  of  Damascus  the  Greek 
Church  made  no  progress  in  these  themes. 


H2  THE  INCARNATION 

From  him  we  turn  to  the  new  periods  of  world  and 
church  history. 

IV.  The  Western  Germanic  State  Church. — The  orthodox 
ecclesiastical  statements  add  nothing  to  the  theme  under 
review.  But  there  are  certain  revivals  of  ancient  trends, 
which  once  more  lead  to  repetitions  of  the  old  arguments, 
with  here  and  there  a  valuable  contribution. 

(a)  The  theory  of  adoptionism  was  projected  by  certain 
Spanish  bishops,  and  after  being  suppressed  in  its  birth- 
place, it  was  some  centuries  later  resuscitated  in  parts  of 
southern  Germany  and  Italy.  The  central  teaching  was 
that  Christ  was  indeed  the  Son  of  God,  by  nature  divine ; 
in  his  humanity,  however,  he  bore  that  title,  not  by  birth, 
but  by  adoption,  just  as  we  are  incorporated  into  the 
heavenly  household.  This  theory,  of  course,  would  lead 
to  the  rupture  of  the  continuity  of  the  Sonship,  and  assur- 
edly militates  against  the  identity  of  the  Logos  and  Jesus. 

(b)  It  is  sufficient  to  mention  the  unseemly  inquiries  into 
the  physiological  conditions  of  the  conception  and  birth  and 
nurture  of  our  Lord.  These,  however,  were  very  favorite 
topics.  The  Mary  and  Anna  cult,  as  a  consequence,  took 
considerable  access  in  this  medieval  period. 

(e)  Peter  Lombard  taught  that  Christ  was  born  sinless ; 
that  it  was  the  divine  nature  rather  than  person  that  was 
incarnated,  and  that  Christ  in  his  human  nature  was  not 
an  individual;  he  had  no  independent  being,  because  he 
was  impersonal ;  he  was  rather  aliquid  than  aliquis;  or,  as 
the  Master's  enemies  expressed  it,  God  became  nothing 
in  the  incarnation.  Strong  as  the  trend  toward  eviscer- 
ating the  humanity  had  become  even  in  the  West,  this 
caused  a  bitter  controversy.  He  was  charged  with  nihil- 
ism because  of  this  neutralization  of  the  manhood.  The 
controversy  served  to  bring  into  clearness,  especially 
through  Walter  of  St.  Victor,  the  psychological  position 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  113 

of  the  church,  that  nature,  although  destitute  of  a  distinct 
personality,  does  not  lose  its  claim  to  individual  being. 
From  which  it  ought  to  have  followed,  that  will  and  con- 
sciousness are  predicates  of  the  nature  rather  than  of  the 
person  as  such. 

(d)  The  speculative  idealism  of  John  Scotus  Erigena.  The 
Trinity  with  him  is  rather  appellational  and  attributive ;  the 
names  signify  no  functions.  In  his  evolutionary  panthe- 
ism the  period  of  the  Son  is  simply  a  great  unformed, 
undistributed,  and  unconscious  aggregate.  From  its  mixed 
features  the  Spirit  comes  to  individualize  and  separate  and 
complete.  The  Son  is  idealized  as  a  potency,  and  yet  is 
not  God.  Nor  does  the  historic  Christ  come  into  any  full 
connection  with  this  idealized  Christ  of  the  primal  universe. 
But  in  him  all  the  race  is  viewed  as  inherent ;  what  he  does 
every  man  does.  We  participate  in  the  work  wrought  by 
him ;  we  are  treated  as  one  in  him  and  he  in  us.  The  in- 
carnation, and  hence  the  redemption,  is  universal.  In  this 
speculation  lay  much  of  the  force  afterward  developed  in 
some  phases  of  mysticism  and  in  the  idealism  of  modern 
times.  While  he  drew  vastly  from  the  Pseudo-Dionysius, 
his  Christological  bent  was  not  sacramental,  but  pantheistic, 
which  viewed  all  as  a  monad. 

(e)  It  is  well,  also,  to  remember  the  enormous  growth  of 
the  sacramental  Christology  in  the  medieval  church,  both 
by  its  elaborate  symbolism  and  particularly  by  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation,  a  creative  act,  whereby  the  chosen 
elements  of  nature  are  converted  into  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  which  in  turn  leads  to  the  reception  into  the  entire 
constitution  of  man — body,  soul,  and  spirit — of  the  com- 
plete human  Christ — and  why  not  of  the  divine  ?  Thus 
does  the  dearest  mystery  become  a  base  act  of  eating,  and 
symbolism  is  inverted ;  as  with  the  cradle,  so  with  the  cross ; 
as  with  the  cross,  so  with  the  body  that  suffered  thereon. 


H4  THE  INCARNATION 

(/)  An  old  conception  was  restored  by  Rupert  of  Deutz. 
He  claimed  that  the  incarnation  had  a  cosmic  purpose  in- 
dependent of  salvation.  Christ  would  have  come  even  if 
the  first  Adam  had  not  sinned.  It  was  a  necessity  of  the 
divine  idea  to  complete  the  universal  order;  to  give  the 
crown  to  manhood ;  to  bestow  also  upon  Adam  what  he« 
would  not  have  been  able  to  attain  without  the  fall.  This 
conception,  however,  obtained  no  ecclesiastical  nor  ex- 
tended scholastic  recognition ;  but  it  did  find  much  accep- 
tance among  the  mystics,  both  of  the  scholastic  and  the  free 
orders,  and  among  some  of  the  Reformers  before  the  Refor- 
mation. 

(g)  The  Anselmic  interpretation  of  the  incarnation  was 
soteriological.  Christ  became  flesh  to  connect  himself  with 
our  salvation ;  it  was  the  preparation  for  the  temptation, 
the  ministry,  and  the  cross,  in  their  vicarious  features.  The 
coming  of  Christ  into  the  flesh  would  not  have  been  a  part 
of  the  divine  economy  had  not  man  fallen  and  made  his 
future  endlessly  hopeless,  unless  he  were  restored  through 
the  interposition  of  God's  love  and  the  Son's  generous  will. 

Into  many  minor  questions  of  the  medieval  theologians 
we  cannot  enter.  They  all  seek  to  identify  quality  with 
personality ;  to  require  of  an  abstraction  that  it  shall  live ; 
of  an  idea  that  it  shall  be,  after  all,  a  congeries  of  ideas,  and 
so  become  being.  Thought  and  being,  or  will  and  being, 
or  love  and  being — these  are  asserted  to  be  the  same,  but 
they  refuse  to  lose  their  distinctness.  Aquinas  makes  intel- 
ligence the  Father  and  will  the  Son,  while  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  their  mutual  love ;  and  Duns  Scotus  demands  of  intelli- 
gence that  it  desire  and  so  produce  the  Son,  and  that  it 
reflect  and  so  spirate  the  Holy  Spirit;  while  scholastic 
mysticism  sought  to  make  love  and  God  identical. 

The  inadequate  treatment  of  the  incarnation  after  Anselm 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  115 

was  doubtless  due  to  the  growing  usurpation  of  mediatorial 
functions  by  the  church. 

The  nominalism  of  Roscelinus  led  him  to  regard  sub- 
stance as  a  term  only  ;  for  if  the  three  persons  were  actually 
consubstantial,  he  claimed  that  they  would  each  have  to 
be  incarnated  in  Christ.  But  we  may  argue,  that  if  there 
be  no  point  of  unity  in  the  one  essence,  the  Triad  must  be 
resolved  into  a  tritheistic  group ;  he  would  give  us  three 
independent  Gods.  The  harmony  of  the  incarnation  and 
its  purpose  would  be  entirely  destroyed.  This  was  a  uni- 
form danger  of  nominalistic  philosophy,  as  tetratheism  was 
for  the  realists. 

Medievalism  adds  really  nothing  substantial  to  these 
great  doctrines,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  did  not  study 
the  Scriptures  in  their  clear,  plain  meaning.  With  the  elab- 
orate allegorical  system  of  interpretation  there  remained 
no  sure  foundation  in  the  books  of  revelation.  Even  the 
philosophic  principles  were  borrowed  from  the  worn  sys- 
tems of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  With  all  the  acuteness,  and 
sometimes  astuteness,  of  the  schoolmen,  they  carry  us  into 
no  worthy  new  fields,  and  do  not  expand  or  cultivate  the  old. 

V.  We  now  turn  to  the  Modem  Period. 

(a)  In  the  Roman  Church  there  has  been  no  further 
authoritative  attempt  to  define  the  Trinity  or  any  point  of 
Christology,  save  by  the  tenet  of  the  immaculate  conception 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  "the  doctrine  which  holds  that  the 
Most  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  in  the  first  instant  of  her  con- 
ception, by  a  singular  privilege  of  the  grace  of  Almighty 
God,  through  the  protection  of  the  merits  of  Christ  Jesus, 
the  Saviour  of  the  human  race,  was  preserved  free  from  all 
stain  of  original  guilt."  Even  this  does  not  go  much  be- 
yond Peter  Lombard,  and  is  a  pitiful  result. 

(b)  The  Greek  Church,  in  its  theologians  and  confessions, 
remains  by  the  conclusions  of  John  of  Damascus.     While 


n6  THE  INCARNATION 

it  elaborates  the  doctrine  of  the  Virgin,  it  does  not  attain 
the  logical  result  of  the  Roman  statement  of  the  tenet. 
Thus  in  Dositheus  :  "  We  believe  that  the  Son  of  God,  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  made  the  kenosis ;  that  is,  he  assumed 
in  his  hypostasis  the  human  flesh  from  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  so  was  conceived  and 
incarnated,  and  was  born  without  giving  pain  or  throes  to 
his  own  mother,  according  to  the  flesh,  and  without  lesion 
of  her  virginity."  Philaret's  catechism  contributes  no  new 
research  in  either  rubric  bearing  upon  the  incarnation.  Its 
exposition  of  the  various  phases  of  the  creeds  is  generally 
clear  and  excellent.  It  confines  itself,  in  accordance  with 
the  symbol  it  interprets,  to  the  soteriological  view  of  the 
incarnation. 

(c)  Protestantism.  As  we  turn  to  the  religious  revolution 
we  note : 

i.  The  attempt  to  restore  the  mediatorial  office  to  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  Prophet,  the  Priest,  and  the  King,  and,  there- 
fore, to  banish  all  inferior  intercessions  and  authorities  from 
heaven  or  from  earth. 

2.  The  attempt  to  live  in  the  direct  dependence  of  faith 
upon  the  all-sufficient  work  of  Christ,  and  to  imitate  his 
holy  example,  as  the  standard  of  religion  and  morals. 

3.  The  attempt  to  simplify  the  concept  and  number  of 
the  sacraments,  so  as  to  deliver  the  church  and  nature  from 
the  incubus  of  a  false  symbolism. 

4.  The  attempt  to  ascend  to  the  spiritual  directly,  to  lift 
the  heart  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  or  to  recognize  Jesus 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  as  present  invisibly,  rather  than  to  bring 
down  God  into  all  visibility  and  into  the  sphere  of  sensuous 
perceptions. 

5.  The  attempt  to  come  to  the  Scriptures  as  plain  books, 
with  no  esoteric  teaching  to  be  obtained  by  either  allegorical 
or  churchly  keys. 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  117 

Now  all  these  inward  upheavals,  this  longing  for  liberty 
and  simplicity,  this  assertion  of  freedom  in  Christ  back  and 
forth,  necessarily  caused  a  revival  of  theological  study. 
But  in  the  beginning  there  was  not  so  much  research  con- 
cerning the  affiliated  doctrines  under  consideration  as  one 
would  think,  simply  because  the  great  councils  had  given  a 
bond  of  union  for  Romanism,  Grecism,  and  Protestantism. 
These  matters  were  not  in  dispute ;  there  was  at  least  the 
outward  consensus.  The  Protestant  symbols  contain  no 
new  element  in  the  discussion,  save  in  two  respects.  In 
the  progress  of  the  controversy  concerning  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, Luther  defined  the  relation  of  the  two  natures  as  one 
of  intercommunion  of  attributes,  whereby  he  substantiated 
the  ubiquity  of  Christ's  body.  Certainly  there  had  been 
much  loose  language  as  to  the  interrelation  of  the  natures. 
What  influence  they  exerted  upon  one  another,  and  how  they 
were  coordinated  in  their  thought  and  energy,  had  never  as 
yet  been  logically  determined.  In  the  progress  of  the  Lu- 
theran  side  of  the  discussion  the  following  thoughts  appeared : 

1.  The  human  nature  is  capable  of  the  divine.  It  can 
be  enlarged  enough  to  receive  not  only  its  impartations, 
but  can  be  used  as  a  vehicle  or  instrument  for  the  infinite 
and  the  eternal. 

2.  The  attributes  are  attributes  of  the  natures,  and  not 
of  the  person  exclusively. 

3.  The  bond  of  union  is  not  in  the  person,  but  in  the 
natures;  the  perfect  interpenetration  and  communion  of 
their  proper  qualities  do  produce  the  true  unity,  and  in 
that  the  union  must  be  found. 

4.  The  development  of  this  humanity  largely  ceased  to 
be  ethical  from  the  Lutheran  standpoint ;  progress  in  char- 
acter through  self-determination  and  through  the  exercise 
of  native  virtues  was  put  into  the  background,  because  of 
the  transcendent  infusion  of  the  divine  nature. 


n8  THE  INCARNATION 

It  is  true  that  the  Melanchthonian  section  controverted 
some  of  these  points,  and  that  many  conceived  multipres- 
ence  to  be  a  better  idea  than  ubiquity  ;  but  the  compromise 
in  the  Formula  of  Concord  left  the  burden  of  victory  with 
the  ultra- Lutheran  division.  After  that  symbol  has  handled 
the  reality  of  the  union  and  guarded  against  the  confusion 
of  natures,  it  states  the  attributes  of  each.  Those  of  the 
human  are  mainly  physical ;  there  is,  strange  to  say,  not  a 
solitary  lineament  of  the  moral  image  of  God  as  a  counter- 
part of  the  divine.  Then  the  intercommunion  of  these  na- 
tures is  aggressively  stated,  and  hence,  too,  God  is  man  and 
man  is  God.  The  Virgin  Mary  conceived  and  bore  the 
true  Son  of  God  ;  she  is  truly  the  mater  Dei.  The  threefold 
division  of  the  communicatio  obtained  quite  a  recognition 
in  later  stages  of  the  debate : 

i.  That  by  which  the  two  natures  imparted  their  attri- 
butes to  the  person — genus  idiomaticum. 

2.  That  by  which  the  person  imparted  its  qualities  to  the 
natures — genus  apotelesmaticum. 

3.  That  by  which  the  divine  nature  conferred  its  energies 
upon  the  human — genus  majcstaticum. 

4.  A  fourth  was  suggested  later,  namely,  the  genus  tapei- 
noticon,  by  which  the  human  imparted  its  qualities  to  the 
divine. 

The  Reformed  churches,  in  this  discussion,  varied  be- 
tween different  positions : 

1 .  A  tendency  to  hold  the  strictest  lines  of  divergence  be- 
tween the  natures,  and  especially  to  a  denial  of  the  capa- 
city of  the  human  for  the  divine.  A  great  wall  was  raised 
between  the  infinite  and  the  finite. 

2.  A  purpose  to  confine  to  the  divine  person  the  greater 
work  of  our  salvation. 

3.  Others,  again,  acknowledged  the  God-man's  agency 
as  a  unit  in  redemption. 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  119 

4.  An  insistence  upon  the  operation  of  the  Logos  extra 
carnem  as  continuous,  while  the  Logos  with  the  human 
nature  also  performed  its  offices. 

5.  They  did  allow  the  humanity  to  work  more  indepen- 
dently, religiously,  and  ethically  within  its  own  limits,  and 
made  much  of  the  office-work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
general  development  under  infusions  of  grace,  and  the  exer- 
cise of  native  sinless  powers,  especially  in  the  earthly  min- 
istry. 

The  original  Melanchthonian  tendency,  and  the  Crypto- 
Calvinistic  movements,  and  the  later  freer  attitudes  of  the 
faculties  of  Helmstadt  and  Tubingen  gradually  brought 
many  of  the  Lutherans  to  a  position  very  similar  to  that 
of  the  Reformed  on  this  question. 

And  here  it  will  be  well  to  note  the  most  philosophic 
and  scriptural  view  of  this  period — that  which  was  modestly 
averred  by  Caspar  Schwenckfeld.  He  held  to  the  general 
definitions  of  the  church  in  all  enunciated  points,  but  be- 
yond that  he  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  while  the 
identities  of  Christ's  humanity  are  many,  there  are  also  dif- 
ferences. There  is  the  sinlessness ;  there  is  the  union  itself ; 
but  there  is  also  the  fact  that  God  was  his  Father,  in  the 
incarnating  process.  He  is  as  truly  the  Son  of  God  by  his 
human  birth  as  he  is  by  the  eternal  generation,  and  that  to 
no  prejudice  of  the  elements  derived  from  his  holy  mother. 
Moreover,  it  is  the  law  of  humanity  to  be  a  partaker  of  the 
divine  nature ;  it  must  be  supereminently  so  of  a  humanity 
thus  divinely  produced.  Its  obligation  of  progress  bears 
equally  upon  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  Godward  and  in  God- 
similitude,  to  be  a  partaker  of  God ;  but  this  is  not  a  shar- 
ing in  Christ's  own  divine  nature ;  he  does  not  participate 
in  himself,  we  must  observe,  it  is  in  the  general  Godhead. 
The  natures  are  never  confused  by  this  progress ;  although 
the  resemblance  increases,  it  can  never  become  immer- 


120  THE  INCARNATION 

gence,  and  it  can  never  be  consubstantial.  This  seems  the 
most  scriptural  of  all  the  Christologies,  and  contains  within 
itself  the  most  symmetrical  and  proportionate  explanations 
of  the  incarnation.  And  while  the  Reformer  limits  its  pur- 
pose in  its  first  step  to  the  soteriological  idea,  and  is  agnos- 
tic as  to  what  ought  to  have  been  done  by  God  had  not 
Adam  fallen,  he  holds  to  the  accompanying  cosmic  effects 
of  that  indwelling  in  the  flesh.  All  nature  is  concerned  in 
it  as  connected  with  man,  and  participates  in  the  glories  of 
the  filial  redemption. 

An  allied  question  in  this  period  was,  What  disposition 
did  the  Logos  make  of  the  divine  attributes  and  functions 
in  the  state  of  humiliation  ?  How  could  the  human  nature 
be  ignorant  of  certain  divine  facts  and  suffer  under  various 
other  limitations  ?  How  could  Christ  exert  his  authority 
if  he  laid  aside  his  powers  ?  The  general  attitude  of  the 
Lutherans  in  the  secondary  Reformation  years  is  expressed 
in  the  Formula  of  Concord :  "  In  the  state  of  humiliation 
Christ  deprived  himself  of  the  majesty  which  was  always 
his,  and  remained  so  in  the  personal  union.  Wherefore  he 
did  not  always  make  use  of  this  majesty,  but  only  when  it 
seemed  good  to  him."  The  theologians  of  Tubingen  held 
to  the  possession,  and  made  the  kenosis  consist  in  the  con- 
cealment, of  these  attributes.  Christ  had  them  under  his 
control,  and  exercised  them,  or  not,  in  a  hidden  way,  so  that 
he  would  appear  wholly  as  man,  while  a  God  incognito. 
Probably  few  controversies  in  the  Lutheran  body  have 
been  more  bitter  than  this.  Others,  following  the  Univer- 
sity of  Giessen,  claimed  the  possession  of  the  attributes,  but 
the  surrender  of  their  use  on  occasion ;  and  this  became 
the  dominant  opinion.  In  our  own  century  the  reopening 
of  this  question  has  led  to  the  following  positions : 

i.  That  the  Logos,  after  all,  does  not  possess  necessarily 
the  complete  divine  attributes.    Being  capable  of  change, 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  121 

he  elected  to  strip  himself  of  these  qualities  and  become 
entirely  a  man ;  and  subsequently  regained,  through  the 
exaltation,  his  original  condition. 

2.  That  the  Logos  has  emptied  himself  of  the  non-ethical 
attributes  of  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and  omnipresence 
during  the  earthly  career. 

3.  That  the  Logos  has  the  capacity  to  reduce  his  powers 
into  the  human  and  finite  limits,  so  that  they  shall  be  oper- 
ative only  in  the  bounds  of  the  human  nature. 

4.  That  the  Logos  lays  aside  his  consciousness  and  is 
guided  solely  by  the  human  consciousness  and  development. 

5.  That  the  Logos  put  by  his  S6£a,  toward  whose  re- 
sumption in  its  fullness,  with  the  addition  of  human  glory, 
his  ministry  and  suffering  and  triumph  prepare  him. 

Such  are  some  of  the  solutions  proposed  for  this  mystery. 
There  is  not  one  of  them  that  satisfies  either  reason  or 
Scripture  or  the  desire  of  man ;  and  yet  the  study  thereof 
must  not  be  vacated. 

The  clearest  and  noblest  discussion  of  the  Trinity  and 
the  person  of  Christ,  among  the  Reformation  giants,  is  that 
by  John  Calvin.  Not  to  analyze  his  thought,  which  adds 
nothing  new  to  our  problem,  I  would  yet  draw  attention 
to  his  own  attitude  toward  definitions  of  terms  in  these 
dogmas :  "  If,  then,  the  words  have  not  been  rashly  in- 
vented, we  should  beware  lest  we  be  convicted  of  fastidi- 
ous levity  in  rejecting  them.  I  could  wish  them,  indeed, 
to  be  buried  in  oblivion,  provided  this  faith  were  uni- 
versally received :  that  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  are  the  one  God;  and  that,  nevertheless,  the  Son  is 
not  the  Father  nor  the  Spirit  the  Son,  but  that  they  are 
distinguished  from  each  other  by  some  peculiar  property. 
I  am  not  so  rigidly  precise  as  to  be  fond  of  contending  for 
mere  words."  While  he  defends  the  Nicene  and  Chalce- 
donian  definitions  with  lucidity,  I  have  adduced  this  testi- 


122  THE  INCARNATION 

mony  rather  as  (i)  a  defense  of  his  breadth  and  simplicity ; 
(2)  as  a  voice  from  the  far  Reformation  century  akin  to  the 
sounds  of  discontent  in  our  day,  which  criticize  the  ancient 
terms  for  their  inadequacy,  and  cry  for  a  return  to  utter 
simplicity  in  stating  the  theory  of  the  immanent  Trinity. 

Protestantism  moved  from  its  first  confessional  attitude 
in  the  Reformation,  to  the  scholastic  theologies,  built  on 
the  symbols.  There  were  colossal  theologians,  Lutheran 
and  Reformed,  the  latter  of  every  nationality ;  there  were 
colossal  systems,  but  they  did  not  move  beyond  the  con- 
fessions. In  breaking  up  the  deadness  of  this  level,  two 
powerful  factors  were  set  in  play,  philosophy,  inductive 
and  subjective,  and  rationalism.  This  was  followed  by  a 
period  of  idealism,  paralleled  by  criticism,  especially  of  an 
historical  cast ;  and  so  we  reach  our  day.  The  doctrines  of 
the  Trinity  and  the  incarnation  have  passed  through  those 
gradations.  We  cannot  trace  them  chronologically  in  each 
of  these  stages.  We  must  be  satisfied  with  the  effort  to 
group  the  different  modern  trends.  Narrow,  indeed,  are 
the  circles  of  human  thought.  The  ancient  world  had 
all  the  germs,  and  considerable  unfolding  of  the  possible 
phases,  of  our  doctrine,  and  it  is,  after  all,  mainly  in  the 
old  categories  that  we  must  now  move.  The  West  seeks 
to  break  loose  from  the  Augustinian  analogies,  even  though 
it  may  resort  to  abstract  statements  of  the  immanent  Trin- 
ity. Many,  also,  stand  in  open  revolt  against  ecumenical 
definitions.     We  may  note : 

1.  The  revival  of  subordination  theories.  These  are 
especially  apparent  in  the  Arminian  theologians.  The  im- 
manent Trinity  was  idealized  by  some,  and  made  to  give 
place  to  the  economic  order.  We  may  adduce  Clericus, 
who  says,  in  effect :  The  eternal  Spirit  is  compelled  to 
maintain  within  himself  many  orders  of  thought  at  the 
same  time.    The  threefold  self-determination  of  God  agrees 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  123 

well  with  the  thought  of  numerical  unity.  Through  a  pecu- 
liar process  of  thought  God  presents  himself  as  Father; 
through  two  others  as  Son  and  Spirit.  These  processes  of 
thought  are  within  the  circle  of  God  himself.  They  do 
proceed  into  acts,  and  as  such  they  may  be  called  per- 
sons.— This  language  makes  the  immanent  Trinity  one  of 
subordinated  ideas,  and  the  economic  one  of  subordinated 
actions,  under  persons  so  called.  Leibnitz  himself  presents 
the  internal  and  external  order  in  some  such  concept: 
"  Every  process  of  divine  reflection  must  develop  itself  into 
a  threefold  activity  and  presentation  in  an  inner  circle. 
The  Spirit  finds  in  itself  its  independent  object.  It  is  its 
counterpart,  which  under  relational  exchange  separates 
itself  as  a  second  unit  from  the  original ;  but  as  it  differen- 
tiates itself  it  must  recur  to  this  original  in  a  third  inde- 
pendent form."  The  perichoresis  or  immanent  relation  is 
followed  by  the  economic  activity. 

So  Urlsperger:  "There  is  an  immanent  Trinity  of  the 
divine  essence.  This  is  obscure,  and  only  becomes  intel- 
ligible in  the  three  forms  of  operation,  viz.,  creation,  re- 
demption, completion.  The  Son  is  the  external  mediator 
of  these  processes.  He  is  elevated  above  the  world  ?&fo?is 
et principium  deitatis.  The  deliverance  of  the  race  and  the 
completion  is  by  him,  and  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  third 
potential,  and  is  effected  by  alternate  rises  and  falls." 
Bishop  Bull,  in  his  defense  of  the  Nicene  faith,  took  refuge 
in  the  ancient  subordination,  which  he  justly  found  in  the 
Nicene  Symbol  itself.  Schleiermacher  must,  in  some  re- 
spects, be  viewed  as  ranking  here,  for  he  says  that  we 
can  regard  the  persons  in  gradation  only.  While  he  uses 
churchly  terms,  his  thoughts  are  different.  With  him  the 
historic  Christ  comes  first;  the  ideal  or  the  divine  Christ 
can  enter  into  our  consciousness  only  through  the  Jesus  of 
the  earthly  ministry.     The   Trinity  is  not  an  independent 


124  THE  INCARNATION 

part  of  the  Christian  consciousness.  In  like  manner  Bush- 
nell :  "  We  take,  then,  as  a  first  point  to  be  held  immov- 
ably, the  strict  personal  unity  of  God — one  mind,  will,  con- 
sciousness. The  Trinity  we  seek  will  be  a  Trinity  that  re- 
sults of  necessity  from  the  revelation  of  God  to  man.  I  do 
not  undertake  to  fathom  the  interior  being  of  God  and  tell 
how  it  is  composed."  He,  however,  affirms  reverently  and 
positively  the  divinity  of  our  Lord.  The  Trinity  he  does 
unfold  is  economic  and  operative  in  the  historic  sphere. 
Lipsius  also  inclines  to  a  subordinational  presentation. 
Immanently  God  is  filled  with  the  thought  of  love,  and  he 
gives  it  expression  in  Fatherhood,  Sonship,  and  Spirithood. 
This  is  objectivized  in  the  Logos  and  the  Spirit.  And 
this  is  an  explanation  of  the  metaphysical  doctrine  of  the 
church.  Then  follow  the  three  economies :  (a)  The  econ- 
omy of  the  Father:  the  eternal  divine  order  of  salvation, 
and  its  relation  to  history  in  general,  (b)  The  historical 
revelation  of  salvation,  and  the  founding  of  the  fellowship 
therein ;  this  is  the  economy  of  the  Son.  (c)  The  economy 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  historical  realization  of  the  life 
of  salvation  in  individuals  and  in  the  fellowship. 

2.  There  has  also  been  a  distinct  resuscitation  of  Arian- 
ism.  In  the  curious  dual  scheme  of  Campanus,  the  Son 
is  made  before  all  creatures,  and  becomes  the  instrument 
of  God.  Clarke,  in  England,  revived  a  pure  Arian  teach- 
ing. Tollner  thought  Arianism  to  be  the  most  likely  inter- 
pretation of  the  Trinity  and  the  incarnation.  The  right 
wing  of  Unitarianism  in  England  and  the  United  States 
had  not  a  few  who  inclined  to  these  nobler  views  of  ex- 
alted creaturehood. 

3.  Dynamic  Monarchianism  has  had  an  impressive  sup- 
port. It  appeared  among  many  of  the  so-called  Anabap- 
tists, as  with  Denck  and  Hetzer.  The  Socinians,  especially, 
expanded  the  system,  and  organized  it  into  a  teaching  and 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  125 

worshiping  community.  The  supernatural  birth,  as  based 
upon  a  valid  record,  is  strongly  emphasized ;  and  yet  Jesus 
is  simply  a  man,  with  high  capacities,  who  under  divine 
help  becomes  worthy  of  extraordinary  recognition  for  char- 
acter and  greatness.  In  the  reign  of  rationalism,  save  in 
the  purely  deistic  and  vulgar  camps,  the  dynamic  theory 
ruled,  and  frequently  even  to  the  denial  of  the  sinlessness 
of  Christ.  Thus  Henke  substantially  affirms  "  that  the 
ascription  of  personality  to  Christ  was  due  to  piety,  and  to 
the  Johannic  Logos  teaching,  and  to  the  influence  of  Gnos- 
tic emanation  upon  Christian  thought.  Christ  really  distin- 
guished himself  from  God,  yet  was  not  himself  divine,  but 
only  rejoiced  in  the  work  he  did  for  God,  which  was  of  a 
quality  superior  to  the  Messianic  conception  of  the  Jew." 
According  to  Eckermann :  "  The  divine  names  attributed  to 
Jesus  are  simply  official.  He  was  not  the  Creator  of  the 
world.  He  was  simply  a  man,  but  sinless,  who  wrought 
out  divine  ideas  for  the  benefit  of  men."  It  took  Herder 
to  say :  "  While  Socinianism  is  antiscriptural,  nevertheless 
we  must  all  be  Unitarians  in  the  proper  understanding  of 
that  word,  because  the  doctrine  of  the  one  God  is  the 
foundation  of  the  Old  as  well  as  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  the  Triad  is  clear  nonsense."  Some  assertions  of 
Schleiermacher,  in  his  attempt  to  mediate  between  the 
Christian  doctrine  and  his  own  philosophy,  sound  very 
dynamic,  especially  with  regard  to  the  Trinity. 

Of  course  the  great  waves  of  rationalism,  and  criticism 
too,  in  England,  in  France,  and  in  the  United  States,  have 
culminated  in  organized  Unitarianism,  which,  however,  has 
passed  through  all  stages  of  religious  unbelief,  even  to  the 
surrender  of  Christ  and  his  system.  The  Noetic  school  of 
Oxford  headed  the  same  way.  We  can  only  note  these 
facts,  without  delaying  upon  the  important  names. 

Ritschl  is  no  more  than  dynamic,  in  that  he  predicates 


126  THE  INCARNATION 

being  of  God  the  Father,  and  only  becoming  of  the  Son. 
So,  too,  the  analogies  between  God  and  the  kingdom  and 
the  Son  are  striking  indeed,  so  far  as  Christ,  through  pa- 
tience, suffering,  love,  holiness,  has  wrought  them  out,  but 
they  are  not  yet  fully  rounded  out  by  himself ;  nay,  others 
may  fulfil  some  of  them.  All  this  is  a  relative  and  not  an 
absolute  Godhead.  Nor  does  Kaftan,  with  all  his  exalted 
preparatory  strain,  come  beyond  the  conclusion  that  Christ 
is  the  man  in  whom  God  causes  the  fullness  of  his  eternal 
being  to  dwell,  so  that  he  becomes  to  us  the  image  of  the 
invisible  God.  The  manhood  is  made  the  basis  of  the  di- 
vinity, not  the  divinity  the  basis  and  support  of  the  human- 
ity ;  and  it  is  but  an  indwelling,  as  with  us,  not  an  essence 
and  an  absolute  reality. 

4.  Hardly  less  pronounced  have  been  the  modalistic 
revivals,  and  in  one  case  proceeding  to  organization. 
Pantheism  is  usually  the  philosophic  basis  of  this  the- 
ory ;  nor  does  it  fail  us,  as  a  rule,  in  the  modern  instances. 
Servetus  regarded  the  one  God  as  the  source  from  which 
emanated  all  things.  "  Son  and  Spirit  were  but  the  dispo- 
sitions of  God,  issuing  into  activities.  The  Logos  came 
to  personal  objectivity  only  in  the  incarnation.  After  the 
completion  of  their  expulsive  functions  they  will  all  return 
into  the  original  substance."  Swedenborg's  exposition  is  of 
the  Sabellian  cast,  for  there  is  a  Trinity  of  the  second  divine 
person,  viz.,  Christ :  the  Father  is  what  is  divine  in  Christ ; 
the  Son  is  the  divine  in  union  with  the  human ;  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  divine  which  proceeds  from  the  Son.  So,  since 
Jesus  was  born  of  the  Virgin  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  his  body 
is  divine.  Earthly  temptations  and  sorrows  transmute  the 
elements  still  further.  The  parts  derived  from  the  mother 
are  sloughed  off,  and  he  ascended  with  a  body  already  god- 
like. 

5.  Allied  to  this  modalistic  form  is  one  which  has  had 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  127 

a  peculiar  fascination  for  modern  thinkers ;  we  may  call  it 
the  universal  idealistic,  for  its  foundation  is  twofold :  (a) 
the  ideal  man,  and  (b)  the  race  viewed  as  a  unit.  Christian 
Sebastian  Franck  claimed  "  that  the  one  universal  force, 
or  God,  pervades  all,  and  all  find  their  unity  in  him.  The 
incarnation  was  not,  therefore,  a  single  act  in  Christ,  but  is 
a  universal  one.  God  becomes  incarnate  in  each  individ- 
ual." Dippel  says  substantially  :  "  The  eternal  Word  of  the 
Father  is  to  be  seen  in  Christ.  But  the  incarnation  is  not 
to  be  viewed  as  a  particularistic  act ;  it  is  the  universal  in- 
dwelling of  the  Logos  in  humanity.  The  progressive  gen- 
eration of  Christ  in  believers  is  always  parallel  therewith." 
So  Kant,  in  his  restoration  by  means  of  freedom,  would 
have  us  set  a  human  ideal  before  us,  such  as  the  Christ  of 
the  Scriptures.  We  must  have  an  example  corresponding 
to  the  moral  good  of  character  suggested  by  the  practical 
reason.  Whether  this  Christ  is  of  supernatural  generation 
cannot  be  determined.  This  resolves  the  incarnation  into 
an  imitation  and  realization  of  a  norm  of  excellence.  Every 
one,  through  his  categorical  imperative,  can  reach  the  stan- 
dard, and  in  turn  become  universal.  Tieftrnnk,  a  theolo- 
gian of  his  school,  held  of  the  incarnation :  "  The  doctrine 
cannot  be  proved  nor  disproved  scientifically,  because  of 
the  limitations  of  reason.  But  there  is  a  moral  side  to  it, 
by  which  it  may  be  restored.  The  Scriptures  show  the 
Logos  as  the  co-cause  and  instrument  of  all  activity  of  the 
Father.  All  the  practical  relations  of  God  to  humanity  are 
mediated  by  him  as  the  primitive  image  of  Reason,  Holi- 
ness, and  Wisdom."  Fichte  is  not  far  different,  though  his 
terms  are  more  Christian :  "  From  the  absolute  point  of  view, 
the  eternal  Word  becomes  at  all  times,  and  in  every  one, 
flesh,  in  the  same  manner  in  which  it  became  flesh  in  Christ ; 
and  manifests  itself  to  every  man  who  has  a  clear  view  of 
his  unity  in  God."    Nor  does  Schelling  differ  substantially: 


128  THE  INCARNATION 

"  The  incarnation  is  not  empirical,  as  the  theologians  repre- 
sent it  to  be,  as  if  Christ  came  at  a  distinct  time  into  the 
human  sphere.  It  is  an  incarnation  from  eternity,  in  which 
the  eternally  begotten  Son  of  the  Father  of  all  things  appears 
in  every  sphere  of  the  temporal,  as  he  appears  in  the  eternal, 
view  of  God.  Christ  remains  a  wholly  intelligent  person,  and 
yet  as  the  one  in  whom  God  first  became  truly  objective." 
The  immanent  Trinity  is  resolved  by  Hegel  into  a  series 
of  ideas :  (a)  That  of  simple  universality  ;  this  is  the  Father. 
(b)  The  idea  particularized  and  manifested,  which  is  the  Son. 
This  identifies  the  divine  with  the  human,  (c)  The  con- 
sciousness, which  is  the  Holy  Ghost ;  or,  again,  as  the  Ego, 
the  object  and  the  return.  The  incarnation,  with  him,  is 
also  universal,  and  not  a  particularized  movement  or  indi- 
vidual. So  do  all  these  pantheistic  motives  combine  to 
eliminate  history,  and  to  merge  the  real  in  the  ideal,  the 
particular  in  the  universal,  the  mass  in  the  unit.  In  the 
spirit  of  universal  idealism,  Marheineke  says :  "  The  incar- 
nation is  nothing  else  than  the  most  complete  humanization 
of  the  most  perfect  consciousness  of  God,  a  sanctification 
and  penetration  of  the  human  nature  with  immediate  di- 
vine life  and  true  divine  tendency."  So  Ch.  H.  Weisse 
makes  the  divine  reason  the  Father,  the  divine  feeling  and 
nature  in  God  the  Son,  and  the  divine  will  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  ideal  Son  of  man  of  this  impersonal  Trinity  becomes 
the  historic  Christ  or  personality.  Biedemann's  thought  of 
the  Trinity  and  the  incarnation  is  that  the  divine  ideas  are 
thus  realizing  themselves,  especially  in  the  central  point,  viz., 
the  human  spiritual  life  of  Sonship.  The  idea  of  the  Fa- 
therhood is  founded  on  this  Sonship.  The  efficient  cause 
or  energy  for  producing  it  is  the  Son.  The  completing 
cause  is  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  idealism  has  been  the  most 
dominant  in  the  theology  outside  of  the  confessions,  and, 
indeed,  has  affected  those  not  a  little. 


HISTORICALLY   CONSIDERED  129 

6.  Another  theory  is  that  of  a  somatic  incarnation,  accord- 
ing to  which  Christ  brought  with  him  a  heavenly  body ;  and 
among  some  it  is  also  conceived  that  this  body  was  accom- 
panied with  a  preexistent  human  soul.  Prominent  repre- 
sentatives of  this  tenet  are  Melchior  Hoffman,  Mathy,  Good- 
win, and  Isaac  Watts.  This,  of  course,  at  once  makes  the 
birth  Docetic,  and  destroys  the  representative  quality  of  his 
manhood. 

7.  Some  have  also  contended  that  our  Lord  assumed  the 
fallen  human  nature  in  order  to  be  in  likeness  with  our  pres- 
ent state,  and  to  be  qualified  to  comprehend  the  conditions 
of  sin,  so  that  the  salvation  might  be  effective  through  his 
personal  triumph  over  native  corruption.  Menken,  Irving, 
Trench,  etc.,  are  representatives  of  this  view.  But  it  intro- 
duces the  element  of  a  corrupt  disposition,  which  invali- 
dates his  sinlessness,  a  fact  of  more  importance  to  our  sal- 
vation than  all  his  conquest  of  native  evil  could  be. 

There  is  also  a  decided  leaning  toward  Monophysitic 
views,  certainly  to  an  extreme  emphasis  upon  the  divine 
nature.  This  has  appeared  in  the  movements  of  Puseyism, 
in  the  high  Lutheranism  of  Germany,  indeed  in  all  sacra- 
mental theologies,  which  combine  with  that  trend  a  sacer- 
dotal conception  of  the  ministry,  and  the  creation  of  a 
body  of  intercessors.  Dorner  even,  although  belonging  to 
the  mediating  school,  is  not  exempt  from  this  color,  in  that 
he  strives  to  place  the  union  not  in  the  divine  person  of 
the  Logos,  but  in  the  two  natures. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  an  equally  marked  inclination 
to  exalt  the  humanity  at  the  expense  of  the  divinity,  in  what 
is  called  the  anthropocentric  Christology.  The  limitations 
of  Christ,  his  bodily  weaknesses,  his  temptations,  his  igno- 
rance, receive  a  very  undue  accent.  These  elements  of  his 
kinship  are,  indeed,  worthy  of  the  most  serious  and  sympa- 
thetic regard ;  but  we  must  not  forget  the  sinews  of  strength, 


130  THE  INCARNATION 

the  virtues,  the  sinlessness,  the  intimacy  with  God,  the  ex- 
haustive knowledge,  the  self-assertion,  and  the  authoritative 
tone.  The  growth  of  our  Lord  is  a  blessed  fact.  It  is  the 
law  of  humanity  radiant  in  him.  But  this,  too,  may  be 
pressed  beyond  bounds,  when  it  is  referred  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  mission,  of  his  relationship  to  God,  of  himself, 
and  of  his  Father ;  especially  when  it  is  pushed  to  such  an 
extreme  statement  as  that  of  Dorner :  "  The  incarnation  is 
not  to  be  thought  of  as  at  once  completed,  but  as  continu- 
ous, nay,  augmentative,  seeing  that  God  as  Logos  ever 
seizes  and  appropriates  those  of  the  new  sides  which  are 
generated  by  true  human  development,  just  as,  conversely, 
the  growing  actual  receptiveness  of  the  humanity  combines 
consciously  and  voluntarily  with  ever  new  sides  of  the 
Logos."  This  is  a  confusion  of  appropriation  with  assimila- 
tion, and,  therefore,  growth  with  birth.  The  difficulty  in 
all  this  discussion  is  that  we  diminish  the  value  of  the  truth 
we  assail,  and  enhance  fictitiously  the  truth  we  seek  to  es- 
tablish. 

Owing  to  the  seeming  impossibility  of  regarding  the 
human  nature  in  Christ  as  independent,  as  individual,  if  it 
be  impersonal  (unhypostatized),  many  theologians  insist  on 
conceding  to  it  a  separate  personality,  so  that  there  would 
be  two  hypostases  in  the  Christ,  the  divine  and  the  human. 
This  has  an  accession  of  favorable  argument  from  the  fact 
that  there  would  be  no  will  or  consciousness  for  the  man- 
hood, apart  from  that  in  the  divine  person,  if  these  be  predi- 
cates of  personality  and  not  of  nature. 

There  is  also  current  an  educational  idea  of  the  incarna- 
tion, which  is  just,  if  not  made  exclusive.  The  presentation 
of  his  sinlessness,  of  his  communion  with  God,  of  his  lofty 
moral  aims,  serves  as  an  appeal  to  the  world  to  better  its 
life  under  this  stimulus,  and  to  constitute  a  fellowship  of 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  131 

the  good.  This  theory  connects  itself  readily  with  the 
moral-influence  theory  of  the  atonement. 

The  incarnation  certainly  does  also  set  forth  the  harmony 
between  the  ideal  and  the  real  man.  In  this  perfect  union 
between  two  natures,  and  in  the  symmetrical  meetness  of 
the  man  Jesus  to  be  in  eternal  relationship  with  the  Logos, 
the  imperfect  Adam  was  to  find  his  goal;  and  the  fallen 
man  now  seeks  Christ's  help  for  elaborating  life  into  graces, 
and  into  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  and  into  maturity  for  the  eter- 
nal and  perfect  vision  of  the  Son  and  the  Father. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment,  also,  the  effort  to  break 
away  from  the  mere  mathematical  explanations  of  the  Trin- 
ity, in  order  to  reach  a  transcendental  mathematics  such  as 
our  Lord  suggests  in  his  high-priestly  prayer  and  in  other 
unexplained  sayings.  His  conception  of  unity  there  is  cer- 
tainly not  one  of  mere  figures.  As  Lessing  has  said :  "  There 
is  sufficient  ground  in  the  reason  to  posit  a  transcendental 
unity  in  God  which  does  not  exclude  a  certain  plurality." 
"  He  therefore  explains  the  Son  as  the  completest  pres- 
entation of  God,  of  his  identical  image,  and  of  the  Spirit 
as  the  harmony  of  both."  Here  the  mathematical  Trinity 
gives  way  to  the  moral  Trinity,  or  the  mathematics  higher 
than  numbers.  Coleridge,  too,  while  not  ignoring  the  au- 
thority of  the  Scriptures,  found  in  his  own  constitution,  in 
his  own  aspirations  and  necessities,  a  moral  reason  for  the 
incarnation  and  for  the  Trinity :  "  Christ  could  be  the 
Saviour  only  by  being  divine.  The  idea  of  redemption  in- 
volves belief  in  the  divinity  of  our  Lord ;  and  our  Lord's 
divinity,  again,  involves  the  Trinitarian  idea,  because  in  and 
through  that  idea  alone  the  divinity  of  Christ  can  be  re- 
ceived without  breach  of  faith  in  the  unity  of  the  God- 
head." Nor  less  does  he  ground  it  on  the  intellectual 
side :  "  The  Trinity  of  persons  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead 


132  THE  INCARNATION 

would  have  been  a  necessary  idea  of  my  speculative  rea- 
son. God  must  have  had  coeternally'an  adequate  idea  of 
himself,  in  and  through  which  he  created  all  things.  But 
this  would  have  been  a  mere  speculative  idea.  Solely  in 
consequence  of  our  redemption  does  the  Trinity  become  a 
doctrine,  the  belief  of  which  as  real  is  commanded  by  the 
conscience."  The  establishment  of  the  doctrine  by  the 
testimony  of  experience,  as  by  Gore,  is  a  veritable  helpmeet 
to  the  scientific  study,  but  not  more  final  as  to  definition 
and  authority,  than  the  consciousness  of  Coleridge  and 
the  idealistic  schools,  or  of  the  mediating  theology.  One 
of  the  strongest  evidences  for  the  divinity  of  our  Lord 
must  ever  be  his  sinlessness.  That  has  already  proved  a 
most  fertile  apologetic  source  of,  and  one  of  the  most  prac- 
tical incentives  as  well  to,  the  revival  of  purer  religion  and 
to  the  formation  of  more  earnest  character,  and,  as  Liddon 
has  used  it,  an  equally  powerful  argument  for  the  convic- 
tion of  the  reason. 

Nor  dare  we  ignore  the  practical  value  of  these  related 
doctrines.  What  so  elevates  our  conception  of  the  domes- 
tic relations  as  this  transcendent  antetype  ?  Can  a  home 
remain  on  a  dead  material  level  wherein  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  worshiped  daily  as  such  ? 
And  the  infancy  and  childhood  of  Christ,  the  manger  and 
the  cradle,  the  home  and  the  shop  in  Nazareth,  are  not  these 
factors  to  regenerate  all  childhood,  apart  from  the  mystic 
influences  that  radiate  from  the  holy  Infant  ?  And  what 
has  so  hallowed  the  year  and  the  centuries  as  the  return  and 
celebration  of  that  natal  day  ?  It  has  become  the  guide  of 
chronology,  not  to  be  changed.  What  art,  conventional 
or  liberated,  that  has  not  found  its  chief  beauty  in  this  ideal 
of  humanity  ?  What  music,  medieval  or  modern,  that  has 
found  its  highest  form  adequate  to  express  the  theme?  And 
yet  is  not  every  essay  toward  such  an  emotional  delinea- 


HISTORICALLY  CONSIDERED  133 

tion  most  dear  to  our  hearts  ?  And  what  significance  has 
Jesus  not  given  to  each  mourner  and  pilgrim  and  impover- 
ished one ;  to  the  hungry  and  thirsty ;  the  weary  and  the 
heavy-laden,  in  every  one  of  whom  we  may  see  him,  and 
so  see  the  Father  ?  And  what  is  the  initial  and  central 
power  of  his  kingdom,  numerically  and  spiritually,  save  the 
little  children  whom  he  eternally  blesses,  and  whom  we  are 
to  become  like  in  spirit  and  trustfulness  ?  And  what  goal 
is  there  for  us  all  greater  than  this :  to  wear  the  image  of 
the  heavenly ;  as  sons,  to  see  the  Father  as  he  is ;  to  be  as 
God  ?  This  practical  bent  is  the  subject  of  a  beautiful  ac- 
knowledgment by  Maurice  to  Kingsley  :  "  As  to  the  Trinity, 
I  do  understand  you.  You  first  taught  me  that  the  doctrine 
was  a  live  thing,  and  not  a  mere  formula  to  be  swallowed  by 
the  undigesting  reason ;  and  from  the  time  that  I  learned 
from  you  that  a  Father  meant  a  real  father,  and  a  Son  a 
real  son,  and  a  Holy  Spirit  a  real  spirit,  who  was  really  good 
and  holy,  I  have  been  able  to  draw  all  sorts  of  practical 
lessons  from  it  in  the  pulpit,  and  ground  all  my  morality 
and  a  great  deal  of  my  natural  philosophy  upon  it,  and 
shall  do  so  more  and  more." 

In  conclusion,  we  must  note  the  immense  dissatisfaction 
with  the  terminology  in  use :  persons,  nature,  subsistence, 
substance,  consubstantiality,  etc.  There  remain  also  the 
unsolved  difficulties  of  the  attributes  of  the  person  and  the 
attributes  of  the  natures.  There  is  no  explanation  of  the 
union  that  does  not  leave  conscious  gaps.  There  is  no  valid 
interpretation  of  the  kenosis.  There  is  a  constant  strife  be- 
tween the  critical,  the  historic,  the  idealistic,  the  metaphysi- 
cal, and  the  mathematical  schools.  Fichte  has  said,  the 
metaphysical,  and  not  the  historical,  will  save  man.  Rather 
is  it  faith,  devout,  loving,  trustful  faith  in  the  transcendent 
mystery,  the  one  God,  God  in  three,  three  in  one ;  the  divine 
and  human  Logos,  Son  of  God,  Son  of  man,  Jesus.     Let 


134  THE  INCARNATION 

us  company  with  the  innumerable  hosts  in  their  concentra- 
tion of  worship : 

"  All  there,  who  reign  in  safety  and  in  bliss, 
Ages  long  past  or  now,  on  one  sole  mark 
Their  love  and  vision  fix'd.     O  trinal  beam 
Of  individual  star,  that  charm'st  them  thus ! 
Vouchsafe  one  glance  to  gild  our  storm  below." 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  CHURCH 

GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Honorary  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


135 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Mr.  President:  In  speaking  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
church,  I  wish  to  confine  myself  in  the  main  to  two  of  the 
many  meanings  which  this  term  "  church  "  has,  presenting 
it,  first,  as  a  divine  organism,  and,  secondly,  as  a  human  or- 
ganization ;  or,  to  use  more  familiar  but  less  accurate  phrase- 
ology, "  the  church  invisible  "  and  "  the  church  visible." 

I.    THE  CHURCH    AS    A    DIVINE    ORGANISM. 

And,  first,  the  church  as  a  divine  organism.  Observe,  I 
do  not  now,  at  this  stage  of  our  discussion,  mean  by  this 
word  "church"  any  local  organization,  or  the  aggregate 
of  organized  churches,  or  the  general  mass  of  professing 
Christians.  But  I  do  mean  by  this  word  "church"  the 
one  organic,  universal,  spiritual  church  of  the  living  God ; 
that  ideal  church  of  his  which  he  has  bought  with  the 
blood  of  his  own  adorable  Son.  In  other  words,  I  mean 
by  the  church  the  kingdom  of  God  as  administered  by  his 
Son  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

Glance,  then,  for  a  moment  at  some  of  the  differences 
between  a  church  in  the  sense  of  a  human  organization  and 
the  church  in  the  sense  of  a  divine  organism.  An  organized 
church  is  a  voluntary  association,  dependent  on  conditions 
of  place  and  time  and  form.     It  may  be,  and  often  is,  rent 

i37 


13$  THE  DOCTRINE 

by  dissensions ;  it  may  suffer  extinction ;  it  acts  on  itself 
legislatively  and  executively,  receiving  or  dismissing  or  dis- 
ciplining or  excluding  its  members  according  to  its  own  will. 
The  relation  between  its  components  is  constructed  and 
temporal.     In  brief,  it  is  a  human  organization. 

But  the  church  organic  is  a  divine  society,  independent 
of  conditions  of  place  and  time  and  form.  It  was  never 
"  constituted  "  in  human  time  and  space ;  it  was  born  of  a 
past  eternity,  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  having  immortality  for  its  birthright  and  creation  for 
its  heirloom.  Its  members  are  not  inserted  into  it  by  bap- 
tism or  by  letters  of  transfer  from  other  churches ;  they  are 
corporate,  essential,  living  parts  of  it.  Being  that  spiritual 
body  of  which  Christ  is  the  spiritual  head,  there  is  between 
them,  as  between  him  and  them,  community  of  sentiment, 
thought,  experience,  judgment,  purpose,  movement — in  a 
single  word,  life.  And  this  ideal  church,  surveyed  as  a 
whole,  in  and  by  itself,  has  never  had  an  outward,  formal 
organization.  True,  it  has  its  creed ;  but  this  creed  is  not 
written  in  any  stone  tables  of  theological  symbols — this  creed 
is  written  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God  in  tables  that 
are  hearts  of  flesh.  It  has  its  condition  of  membership  ;  but 
this  condition  is  neither  baptism  nor  vote  of  those  already 
members — this  condition  is  faith  in  the  divine  Father,  as 
revealed  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  through  demonstration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  It  has  its  member-roll;  but  this  mem- 
ber-roll no  mortal  eye  has  seen — this  member-roll  is  the 
Lamb's  roll  of  life.  It  has  its  sessions ;  but  these  sessions 
are  not  held  in  any  structures  of  wood  or  brick  or  stone — 
these  sessions  are  held  in  the  heavenlies  in  Christ  Jesus. 
It  has  its  pastor ;  but  this  pastor  no  earthly  presbytery  has 
ordained — this  pastor  is  the  minister  of  the  true  tabernacle, 
which  the  Lord  pitched,  not  man.  It  has  its  music ;  but 
this  music  is  not  the  audible  melody  of  solo  or  chorus — 


OF   THE  CHURCH  139 

this  music  is  the  silent  rhythm  of  human  works  and  divine 
grace.  It  has  its  baptism ;  but  this  baptism  is  not  in  any- 
earthly  water — this  baptism  is  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  has 
its  communion ;  but  this  communion  is  not  in  any  earthly 
bread  and  wine — this  communion  is  in  the  living  bread  and 
the  living  water  that  came  down  from  heaven.  It  has  its 
polity ;  but  this  polity  is  not  the  polity  of  written  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws — this  polity  is  the  polity  of  holy  living 
and  godliness.  It  has  its  liturgy ;  but  this  liturgy  is  not  the 
liturgy  of  rubric — this  liturgy  is  the  liturgy  of  daily  char- 
acter. Take  all  these  things  away — take  away  creed  and 
member-roll  and  sanctuary  and  minister  and  music  and 
baptistery  and  communion-table  and  liturgy  and  discipline. 
What  have  you  taken  away  ?  You  have  taken  away  only 
what  is  formal  and  incidental  and  transient ;  the  church  of 
the  living  God,  in  all  the  essentials  of  her  nature,  still  sur- 
vives. 

Not  that  I  would  for  a  moment  hint  that  we  do  not 
need  church  organizations  or  the  enforcement  of  our  Mas- 
ter's ordinances.  These  we  must  have  and  must  strenu- 
ously maintain ;  for  they  are,  at  least  in  this  world,  essen- 
tial not  only  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  but  also  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Christian  life  itself.  Indeed,  I  am  al- 
most ready  to  affirm  that  without  churches — that  is,  formal 
organizations — we  could  hardly  have  the  church — that  is, 
the  spiritual  organism  of  which  I  am  speaking  to-day.  In 
fact,  all  life  tends  to  organization,  even  as  all  death  tends 
to  disorganization.  Accordingly,  a  church  in  the  sense  of 
a  formal  organization  is  as  truly  a  divine  institution  as  the 
church  in  the  sense  of  a  spiritual  organism.  He  who  is 
too  good  for  a  local,  visible  church  is  not  good  enough 
for  the  universal,  invisible  church.  In  short,  a  church  is 
Christ's  appointed  means  to  the  church.  Nevertheless  the 
church  which  is  the  subject  of  my  address  at  this  point  is 


140  THE  DOCTRINE 

larger  and  diviner  than  even  the  ecclesiastical  organizations 
of  the  apostolic  period.  It  is  the  church  of  the  heavenly 
Bridegroom  ;  the  corporation  of  regenerated  characters  ;  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ ;  the  kingdom  of  God. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  long  on  this  point  because  this  dis- 
tinction between  the  church  as  a  human  organization  and 
the  church  as  a  divine  organism  is  of  the  utmost  conse- 
quence, doctrinally  and  practically.  This  word  "  church  " 
is  so  ambiguous  that  unless  we  use  it  discriminatingly  the 
spirit  of  a  remark,  or  even  the  tenor  of  a  whole  volume, 
may  be  misinterpreted.  Let  us,  then,  cherish  the  habit  of 
using  this  term  "  church  "  scrupulously,  ever  carefully  dis- 
tinguishing between  a  church  organized  and  the  church 
organic ;  between  a  church  local  and  the  church  universal ; 
between  a  church  divisible  and  the  church  indivisible ;  be- 
tween a  church  mortal  and  the  church  immortal ;  between 
a  church  nominal  and  the  church  ideal ;  between  a  church 
constructed,  or  man's  fabric,  and  the  church  born,  or  Christ's 
body. 

This  Organic  Church  a  Unity. — And  this  body  of  Christ 
— not  the  organized  churches  of  Christendom — is  an  organic 
unity.  St.  Paul  portrays  this  unity  under  a  sevenfold  aspect 
thus: 

"  There  is  one  body  [namely,  the  one  Christian  church] ; 
and  one  Spirit  [namely,  the  one  Holy  Ghost] ;  even  as  also  ye 
were  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling  [namely,  the  one 
heavenly  vocation] ;  one  Lord  [namely,  the  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ],  one  faith  [namely,  the  one  faith  in  this  one  Lord] ; 
one  baptism  [namely,  the  one  baptism  in  the  one  Spirit  by 
the  one  faith  into  the  one  body] ;  one  God  and  Father  of 
all  [namely,  the  one  All- Father- God],  who  is  over  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  all."     (Eph.  iv.  4-6.) 

This  churchly  unity  is  also  divinely  foreshadowed  in  such 
figures  as  these :  many  stones,  one  temple ;  many  branches, 


OF   THE  CHURCH  141 

one  vine ;  many  folds,  one  flock ;  many  tribes,  one  Israel ; 
many  members,  one  body.  Listen  especially  to  a  classic 
analogy  of  our  Master's  greatest  Apostle — an  analogy  so 
profound  that  it  will  outlive  all  theories  of  Christian  soci- 
ety, because  founded  in  living  physiology,  it  being,  so  to 
speak,  a  natural  parable  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ : 

Analogy  of  the  Human  Body. — "  For  as  the  body  is  one, 
and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members  of  the  body, 
being  many,  are  one  body ;  so  also  is  Chrjst.  For  in  one 
Spirit  were  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  Jews  or 
Greeks,  whether  bond  or  free ;  and  were  all  made  to  drink 
of  one  Spirit.  For  the  body  is  not  one  member,  but  many. 
If  the  foot  shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  hand,  I  am  not 
of  the  body;  it  is  not  therefore  not  of  the  body.  And  if 
the  ear  shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  eye,  I  am  not  of 
the  body;  it  is  not  therefore  not  of  the  body.  If  the 
whole  body  were  an  eye,  where  were  the  hearing  ?  If  the 
whole  were  hearing,  where  were  the  smelling  ?  But  now 
hath  God  set  the  members  each  one  of  them  in  the  body, 
even  as  it  pleased  him.  And  if  they  were  all  one  member, 
where  were  the  body  ?  But  now  they  are  many  members, 
but  one  body.  And  the  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I 
have  no  need  of  thee :  or  again  the  head  to  the  feet,  I 
have  no  need  of  you.  Nay,  much  rather,  those  members 
of  the  body  which  seem  to  be  more  feeble  are  necessary : 
and  those  parts  of  the  body,  which  we  think  to  be  less 
honorable,  upon  these  we  bestow  more  abundant  honor; 
and  our  uncomely  parts  have  more  abundant  comeliness ; 
whereas  our  comely  parts  have  no  need :  but  God  tempered 
the  body  together,  giving  more  abundant  honor  to  that  part 
which  lacked  ;  that  there  should  be  no  schism  [rending,  dis- 
memberment] in  the  body;  but  that  the  members  should 
have  the  same  care  one  for  another.  And  whether  one 
member  suffereth,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it ;  or  one 


i42  THE   DOCTRINE 

member  is  honored,  all  the  members  rejoice  with  it.  Now 
ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  severally  members  thereof 
[members  each  in  his  part]."     (i  Cor.  xii.  12-27.) 

Of  course  this  paragraph  does  not  teach  that  Christ  and 
his  church  form  a  corporeal  structure  having  bodily  organs. 
It  is  an  analogy,  not  a  proposition ;  accordingly  it  is  to  be 
taken  sense-wise,  not  sound-wise.  And  what  the  analogy 
teaches  is  this — the  relation  between  Christ  and  his  church 
is  as  real,  as  vital,  as  reciprocal,"  as  organic,  as  the  relation 
between  the  head  and  its  body.  And  now  let  us  attend  to 
some  of  the  lessons  which  this  profound  analogy  suggests. 

Christ  and  his  Church  one  Personality. — And,  first,  as  the 
body,  including  head  and  members,  forms  one  organism,  so 
the  church,  including  Christ  and  his  people,  forms,  so  to 
speak,  one  personality. 

The  statement,  you  perceive,  is  twofold.  First,  Christ 
himself  is  the  head :  "  Grow  up  in  all  things  into  him,  who 
is  the  head,  even  Christ."  (Eph.  iv.  15.)  The  church  is  no 
headless  torso.  Being  himself  the  head,  Christ  is,  so  to 
speak,  the  nervous  center  of  his  church,  sharing  her  sensa- 
tions, whether  of  joy  or  of  grief,  coordinating  her  faculties, 
directing  her  movements,  unifying  her  activities,  maintain- 
ing her  life.  And  as  there  is  but  one  Christ,  so  there  is  but 
one  head.  The  Lamb  of  God  is  no  hydra-headed  monster. 
And,  secondly,  as  Christ  is  the  head,  so  his  church  is  his 
body :  "  Gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church, 
which  is  his  body,  the  fullness  of  him  who  filleth  all  in  all  " 
(Eph.  i.  22,  23),  the  overflowing  receptacle  of  his  measure- 
less amplitudes.  Being  his  own  body,  his  church  is,  so  to 
speak,  a  part  of  his  own  personality,  drawing  from  him 
her  life,  sharing  his  experience  and  character,  executing  his 
will.  As  Augustine  profoundly  says :  "  Totus  Christus  caput 
et  corpus  est "  ("  The  whole  Christ  is  head  and  body  ").  Or, 
as  another  Latin  proverb  states  it  still  more  compactly: 


OF   THE  CHURCH  143 

"  Ubi  Christus,  ibi  Ecclesia  "  ("  Where  Christ  is,  there  the 
church  is").  And  as  Christ  is  not  a  monstrosity  in  the 
sense  of  being  many-headed,  so  his  church  is  not  a  mon- 
strosity in  the  sense  of  being  many-bodied.  As  there  is 
but  one  Christ,  even  the  head,  so  there  is  but  one  church, 
even  his  body.  Christ  and  his  church  form  one  person- 
ality. 

Christ  and  his  Church  a  Manifold  Diversity. — Secondly, 
as  the  body  involves  diversity  of  members  and  functions, 
so  does  the  church.  As  the  body  is  not  all  brain  or  heart 
or  eye  or  foot  or  blood  or  nerve  or  bone  or  cell,  so  the 
church  is  not  all  conscience  or  reason  or  sensibility  or  will 
or  creed  or  polity  or  minister  or  layman  or  sex  or  sect. 
The  church  has  all  variety  of  gift,  faculty,  grace,  tempera- 
ment, experience,  vocation,  method,  opportunity,  concep- 
tion. And  as  uniformity  is  a  mark  of  the  lowest  stage  of 
existence,  so  variety  is  a  mark  of  the.  highest.  The  nobler 
the  life  the  more  complex  and  differenced.  For  example : 
how  wonderfully  life  complicates  and  diversifies,  as,  start- 
ing with  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  existence,  we  trace  its 
ever-multiplying  differentiations  in  the  amoeba,  the  polyp, 
the  clam,  the  spider,  the  salmon,  the  lizard,  the  eagle,  the 
lion,  and,  finally,  man  himself!  Indeed,  one  of  the  happi- 
est definitions  of  life  is  this  by  Professor  Guyot :  "  Life  is 
the  mutual  exchanging  of  relations."  And  the  higher  the 
life  the  intenser  the  exchanging.  Contrast,  for  instance, 
the  child  of  barbarism  and  the  child  of  civilization.  How 
simple  the  wants  of  the  savage!  how  few  and  rude  his 
tools !  — you  might  almost  gather  them  into  a  single  shop. 
But  how  diversified  the  wants  of  the  civilized  man!  how 
numberless  and  complicated  his  instruments! — the  vast 
grounds  of  our  Columbian  Exposition  could  not  contain 
them.  In  brief,  differentiation  is  the  very  condition  of  life. 
Dead  things  are  uniform  ;  live  things  are  multiform.    Every 


144  THE  DOCTRINE 

growing  thing  grows  by  multiplication  of  organs  and  func- 
tions and  their  consignment  to  specific  ends.  Development 
is  by  specialization.  How  wonderfully  this  comes  out  in 
the  growth  of  the  germinating  vesicle  of  the  egg  or  the 
cell!  And  the  higher  the  grade  of  being  the  more  individu- 
alized, as  well  as  the  more  complicated,  become  its  organs 
and  functions.  Now  the  church  is  the  superbest  finite  in- 
stance of  differentiation  and  specialization ;  and  this  alike 
in  respect  of  organs,  functions,  gifts,  opinions,  methods. 
The  church  is  a  myriad-fold  diversity. 

Christ  and  his  Church  a  Diversified  Unity. — Thirdly,  as 
the  body  is  diversity  in  unity,  so  also  is  the  church.  For 
consider  for  a  moment  what  unity  means,  specially  as  dis- 
tinguished from  units.  A  unit  is  a  single  one,  surveyed 
externally,  in  isolation  from  other  ones ;  a  unity  is  also  a 
single  one,  but  it  is  surveyed  internally,  in  its  parts,  each 
and  every  part  being  in  mutual  adjustment  to  one  common 
end.  A  unit  is  a  single,  isolated  one ;  a  unity  is  the  sys- 
tematized union  of  several  diverse  ones  into  a  state  of  one- 
ness. A  unit  is  one  in  the  sense  of  numerical  singleness ; 
a  unity  is  one  in  the  sense  of  harmonious  pluralness.  For 
example :  a  molecule  of  water,  considered  in  its  wholeness 
and  in  distinction  from  other  molecules  of  water,  is  a  unit ; 
but  the  same  molecule  of  water,  considered  in  its  parts  as 
consisting  of  eight  weights  of  oxygen  and  one  weight  of 
hydrogen,  is  a  unity.  But  unity  implies  something  more 
than  harmonious  variety  of  parts  ;  it  also  implies  the  subor- 
dination of  these  various  parts  to  a  common  end.  It  is  this 
cooperation  of  diverse  parts  for  a  common  end  which  makes 
these  diverse  parts  as  a  whole  a  unity.  For  example :  the 
separate  blocks  in  a  stone-yard  are  not  a  unity — they  are 
only  units ;  but  actually  bring  them  together  and  fit  them 
to  one  another  in  due  shape  and  order,  for  the  purpose, 
say,  of  a  temple  structure,  and  they  become  a  unity.     In 


OF   THE  CHURCH  H5 

brief,  it  is  the  coordination  of  diverse  units  for  a  common 
end  which  makes  a  unity.  And  observe  the  effectiveness 
of  a  duly  grouped,  coordinated  unity.  How  is  it  that  a 
steam-engine,  although  small  compared  with  the  mass  it 
moves,  is  able  to  drive  a  mighty  craft,  with  her  ponderous 
cargo,  in  teeth  of  billow  and  tempest,  from  continent  to 
continent  ?  It  is  not  merely  because  it  is  made  of  iron  and 
worked  by  the  power  of  steam;  it  is  also  because  valves 
and  pistons,  cranks  and  wheels,  shaft  and  propeller,  all 
work  in  reciprocal  adjustment  and  harmonious  cooperation 
for  a  common  end,  namely,  sending  the  steamer  across  the 
Atlantic.  But  let  some  slight  derangement  of  the  machinery 
occur — some  valve  refuse  to  work,  some  pin  give  way — and 
the  engine,  which  has  been  a  useful  unity,  becomes  a  mass 
of  useless  units.  That  is  to  say,  unity  consists  in  converged 
diversities,  where  all  the  ends  are  means  and  all  the  means 
are  ends.  Or,  to  illustrate  from  St.  Paul's  great  analogy  of 
the  bodily  organism :  A  finger,  surveyed  as  a  finger  in  dis- 
tinction from  other  fingers,  is  a  unit ;  but  the  hand,  surveyed 
as  a  system  of  fingers,  is  a  unity.  So  a  cell,  surveyed  as  a 
cell  in  distinction  from  other  cells,  is  a  unit ;  but  the  body, 
surveyed  as  a  system  of  cells  coordinated  into  a  common 
organism,  is  a  unity.  And  this  convergent  diversity  is  in- 
dispensable to  the  unity.  If  the  whole  body  were  an  eye, 
where  were  the  hearing  ?  If  all  the  members  were  similar 
members — all  eyes  or  ears  or  noses — where  were  the  body  ? 
But  now  they  are  diverse  members,  and  therefore  one 
body.  And  this  diverse  co-membership  is  mutually  co- 
necessary  :  the  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  "  I  have  no  need 
of  thee."  And  this  necessity  of  diversity  is  especially  true 
of  the  smaller,  obscurer  members  of  the  body :  those  mem- 
bers which  seem  to  be  more  feeble  are  necessary.  If  there 
were  no  cells  there  could  be  no  blood,  and  if  there  were  no 
blood  there  could  be  no  body,  either  corporeal  or  personal. 


146  THE   DOCTRINE 

Thus  the  unity  of  the  body  consists  in  the  unified  diversity 
of  its  parts.  And  the  church  is  the  noblest  specimen  of  a 
body,  because  she  is  Christ's  body:  he  the  head  and  she 
the  members.  Accordingly  the  church,  in  the  adjustment 
of  her  own  most  multiform  organs,  in  the  coordination  of 
her  own  most  diversified  functions,  in  the  unification  of  her 
own  most  heterogeneous  elements  and  conditions,  is  the 
consummate,  finite  instance  (Deity  is  the  infinite  instance) 
of  unity  as  well  as  of  diversity ;  of  unity  because  of  diver- 
sity. "  Behold,  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  breth- 
ren to  dwell  together  in  unity!"     (Ps.  cxxxiii.  1.) 

The  Holy  Spirit  the  Secret  of  the  Church's  Unity. — Ob- 
serve, now,  that  it  is  the  Holy  Spirit  who  is  the  unifying 
force  in  the  church  or  body  of  Christ.  He  it  is  who  diversi- 
fies the  gifts,  allots  the  functions,  and  unifies  the  whole. 
Let  me  read  another  classic  paragraph  from  St.  Paul : 

"  Now  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit. 
And  there  are  diversities  of  ministrations,  and  the  same 
Lord.  And  there  are  diversities  of  workings,  but  the  same 
God,  who  worketh  all  things  in  all.  But  to  each  one  is 
given  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  to  profit  withal.  For 
to  one  is  given  through  the  Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom ;  and 
to  another  the  word  of  knowledge,  according  to  the  same 
Spirit :  to  another  faith,  in  the  same  Spirit ;  and  to  another 
gifts  of  healings,  in  the  one  Spirit ;  and  to  another  work- 
ings of  miracles  ;  and  to  another  prophecy  ;  and  to  another 
discernings  of  spirits :  to  another  divers  kinds  of  tongues ; 
and  to  another  the  interpretation  of  tongues :  but  all  these 
worketh  the  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  dividing  to  each  one 
severally  even  as  he  will."     (1  Cor.  xii.  4-1 1.) 

Thus  it  is  that  in  one  Spirit,  even  the  Holy  Ghost,  all 
we  were  baptized  into  one  body,  even  the  spiritual  body 
of  Christ,  whether  Jews  or  Greeks,  whether  bond  or  free, 
whether  Baptists  or  Quakers ;  and  were  all  made  to  drink 


OF  THE  CHURCH  H7 

of  one  Spirit,  even  the  divine,    (i  Cor.  xii.  13.)    The  Holy- 
Ghost  is  the  secret  of  the  church's  unity. 

Thus  the  diversified  unity  of  the  bodily  organism  is  the 
palmary  symbol  and  type  of  the  spiritual  organism,  or 
Christ's  mystical  body.  And  Christ's  mystical  body,  or  the 
spiritual  organism,  is  in  a  certain  sense  the  divine  model 
for  our  ecclesiastical  organizations,  or  the  actual  church  of 
Christendom.  And  the  great  practical  problem  of  ecclesi- 
ology  is  to  make  the  church  organized,  or  man's  fabric,  co- 
incident with  the  church  organic,  or  Christ's  body — a  prob- 
lem which,  like  the  famous  problem  of  squaring  the  circle, 
though  incapable  of  absolute  solution,  is  nevertheless  capable 
of  approximations  ever  closer  and  closer. 

II.   THE   CHURCH    AS  A  HUMAN   ORGANIZATION. 

And  this  leads  us  to  our  second  point,  namely,  the  church 
as  a  human  organization,  or  the  church  of  man's  structure. 
Alas!  we  must  now  move,  at  least  for  the  present,  in  a 
lower  plane. 

The  Organized  Church  a  Disunity. — For  observe,  with 
grief  and  shame,  the  disunity  of  the  organized  church. 
She  is,  indeed,  literally  speaking,  a  church  militant  on  a 
war  footing.  Unfortunately,  however,  this  war  footing  is 
an  internecine  strife.  Instead  of  her  wrestling  against  the 
dark  principalities  of  the  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness  in 
the  heavenlies,  she  is  wrestling  against  her  own  flesh  and 
blood,  making  schism  in  her  own  body,  tearing  asunder  the 
limbs  of  her  own  personality.  Survey  her  manifold  and 
bitter  divisions  and  subdivisions  ;  her  clashing  sects,  creeds, 
polities,  rivalries  ;  her  shibboleth  dins  of  "  I  am  of  Paul "  ; 
"  I  am  of  Apollos  "  ;  "I  am  of  Cephas  " ;  "I  am  of  Christ." 
Paradoxical  as  it  sounds,  the  church  militant  will  never  be- 
come the  church  triumphant  till  she  becomes  the  church 


148  THE  DOCTRINE 

pacific.  Instead  of  her  being  one  united  Israel  of  Jehovah 
of  hosts,  she  is  rather  a  captive  and  dismembered  Israel, 
her  dislocated  bones  lying  scattered  in  the  great  valley  of 
this  world's  Babylonia.  And  were  James  the  Just  or  Peter 
the  Rock  to  return  and  indite  another  Epistle  General  to 
the  church  of  God,  I  fear  that  he  would  still  have  to  ad- 
dress it  somewhat  as  follows : 

"  To  the  twelve  tribes  which  are  of  the  Dispersion,  even 
to  the  elect  sojourners  scattered  in  the  Pontus  of  Baptis- 
malism,  the  Galatia  of  Episcopalianism,  the  Cappadocia  of 
Presbyterianism,  the  Asia  of  Methodism,  the  Bithynia  of 
Lutheranism,  greeting." 

Evils  of  Sectarianism. — Who  of  us  does  not  feel  that 
this  is  a  most  deplorable  state  of  things  ?  Consider  for  a 
moment  some  of  the  evils  of  sectarianism — I  mean  the 
spirit  of  sectarianism,  not  the  mere  fact  that  there  are  sects. 
Sectarianism,  for  instance,  alienates  the  brotherhood,  setting 
the  members  of  the  one  great  family  in  Christ  against  each 
other ;  it  narrows  our  spiritual  horizon ;  inverts  the  gospel 
order  by  exalting  ordinances  above  principles,  ritual  above 
character ;  caricatures  truth  by  magnifying  its  fractions  and 
minifying  its  integer ;  dissipates  spiritual  energies  by  scat- 
tering them  instead  of  concentrating  them ;  involves  need- 
less expense  by  rearing  and  maintaining  several  kinds  of 
churches  in  a  neighborhood  where  God  would  be  better 
served  were  there  but  one  church ;  repels  the  onlooker,  for 
he  will  not  confess  a  divided,  sectarian  Christ ;  worse  than 
all,  arrests  moral  growth.  Listen  to  St.  Paul  as  he  expos- 
tulates with  the  sectaries  of  Corinth : 

"  Brothers,  I  could  not  speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual, 
but  as  unto  carnal,  as  unto  babes  in  Christ.  I  fed  you 
with  milk,  not  with  meat ;  for  ye  were  not  able  to  bear  it : 
nay,  not  even  now  are  ye  able ;  for  ye  are  yet  carnal :  for 


OF  THE  CHURCH  149 

whereas  there  is  among  you  jealousy  and  strife,  are  ye  not 
carnal,  and  walk  after  the  manner  of  men  [not  Christians]  ? 
For  when  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul ;  and  another,  I  am  of 
Apollos;  are  ye  not  men  ?"     (1  Cor.  hi.  1-4.) 

That  is  to  say,  catholicity  is  the  output  of  maturity,  the 
full  costume  of  manhood ;  sectarianism  is  the  stair-bar  of 
infancy,  the  small-clothes  of  babyhood.  Such  are  some  of 
the  many  evils  of  the  denominational  spirit.  Taking  every- 
thing into  account,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  sectarianism 
is  the  church's  mightiest  obstacle  in  her  march  to  the  City 
of  the  Foundations.  For  every  kingdom  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand,  but  must  come  to  desolation.  If  Mes- 
siah's forces  are  divided,  how  then  can  his  kingdom  stand  ? 
But  let  us  be  fair,  and  not  overlook  the  true  church's  real 
unity.  For  at  all  essential  points  Christ's  church — the  church 
organic — whatever  the  land  or  age  or  sect,  is  at  bottom  sub- 
limely one.  And  for  that  one  church  of  Christ  every  true 
member  of  it,  whether  Baptist,  Quaker,  or  Romanist,  will, 
if  need  should  arise,  be  equally  ready  to  die.  But,  although 
Christ's  church  in  its  essentials  is  one,  men's  churches  in 
their  incidentals  are  many  and  diverse.  What  we  quarrel 
about  is  not  moralities,  but  ceremonies;  not  divine  com- 
mandments, but  human  inferences;  not  God's  truth,  but 
men's  interpretation  of  it,  that  is,  men's  creeds.  Neverthe- 
less our  blessed  Lord  has  prayed  the  Father  that  the  mem- 
bers of  his  body  may  be  perfected  into  one ;  and  surely  he 
did  not  pray  in  vain. 

Problem  of  Ecclesiastical  Unity. — And  so  we  pass  to  pon- 
der the  problem  of  ecclesiastical  unity.  How  shall  we 
make  the  church  of  man  and  the  church  of  Christ — the 
church  organized  and  the  church  organic,  the  church  of 
manner  and  the  church  of  matter,  the  church  of  form  and 
the  church  of  life — coincident  ?     In  short,  how  shall  we 


15°  THE  DOCTRINE 

bring  about  the  ideal,  promised  unity?  It  is  a  mighty 
problem,  and  as  gracious  as  it  is  mighty,  wholly  worthy 
the  best  thought  of  Christendom. 

Is  the  Unification  of  Christendom  Desirable? — First  of  all, 
then,  is  the  unification  of  Christendom  desirable  ?  "  Unifi- 
cation" I  say — not  "reunion."  For  I  am  not  aware  that 
Christendom  has  ever  been  united  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
a  reunion  desirable.  The  sad  fact  seems  to  be  that  the 
church  of  the  primitive  period,  in  so  far  as  it  was  organized 
at  all,  instead  of  having  been,  as  we  so  often  fondly  imagine, 
a  concord  of  brothers,  was  largely  a  discord  of  wranglers, 
so  that  St.  Paul  felt  himself  constrained  to  rectify  the  doc- 
trinal heresies  of  Rome ;  to  pacify  the  warring  sectaries  of 
Corinth  ;  to  reclaim  the  theological  apostates  of  Galatia ;  to 
guard  against  a  pagan  life  in  Ephesus;  to  exhort  Euoclia 
and  Syntyche  to  be  of  the  same  mind  in  the  Lord  in 
Philippi ;  to  warn  against  the  dangerous  tendencies  in 
Colosse ;  to  rebuke  the  disorderly  walkers  in  Thessalonica ; 
to  caution  Timothy  and  Titus  against  the  heresiarchs  who 
were  already  subverting  the  churches.  If  the  "  Christen- 
dom "  of  Christ's  day  was  already  a  union,  why  did  Christ 
pray  that  his  followers  might  become  one,  "  perfected  into 
unity  "?  The  truth  is,  the  primitive  church,  like  every  other 
thing  of  life,  began  in  infantile  imperfection,  yet  subject  to 
the  blessed  law  of  growth  and  perfectation.  Ideals,  always 
excepting  the  one  Perfect  Man,  are  ever  before  us,  never 
behind  us.  "That  is  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that 
which  is  natural;  then  that  which  is  spiritual."  (i  Cor. 
xv.  46.)  Our  question,  then,  is  not,  "Is  the  reunion  of 
Christendom  desirable?  "  but  our  question  is,  "  Is  the  unifi- 
cation of  Christendom  desirable?  "  And  to  this  question 
I  must  answer  both  no  and  yes.  Let  me,  then,  discuss 
this  problem  of  ecclesiastical  unity  both  negatively  and 
affirmatively. 


OF  THE  CHURCH  151 

Unity  Cannot  be  Secured  by  Decreeing  Uniformity. — And, 
first,  negatively :  the  church  cannot  unify  herself  by  decree- 
ing uniformity  of  outward  organization.  For  recall  our 
definition  of  unity.  Allow  me  to  reemphasize  this  point. 
For  while  the  longing  of  many  of  God's  chosen  spirits  for 
the  unification  of  Christendom  is  one  of  the  blessed  signs 
of  our  times,  I  fear  that  this  longing  is  in  many  instances 
as  vague  as  it  is  intense.  Accordingly  one  of  my  principal 
objects  in  this  paper  is  to  clear  away,  so  far  as  possible,  the 
mists  which  envelop  this  great  problem,  and  this  by  show- 
ing wherein  church  unity  really  consists — what  it  does  not 
mean  as  well  as  what  it  does  mean.  For  when  the  mists 
lift,  Jehovah's  watchmen  will  see  eye  to  eye.  Recall  then, 
I  say,  what  church  unity  means.  It  does  not  mean  out- 
ward uniformity  of  creed  and  polity,  not  even  an  organized 
union  of  churches  and  sects ;  that  is  an  artificial  combina- 
tion or  mechanical  union  which  can  be  ordered,  and  also 
revoked,  by  decrees  of  councils  and  by  votes  of  assemblies. 
On  the  other  hand,  church  unity  does  mean  an  inward, 
organic,  so  to  speak,  divinely  biological  life,  wherein  all 
varieties  of  organs  and  functions  are  vitally  convergent  to 
one  divine  end.  You  can  organize  an  external  organiza- 
tion— that  is  man's  work.  You  cannot  organize  an  internal 
organism — that  is  God's  work.  All  attempts,  therefore,  to 
ordain  ecclesiastical  unity,  either  by  decrees  of  hierarchical 
conclaves  or  by  votes  of  congregational  assemblies,  are 
attempts  at  human  manufacture  rather  than  recognition  of 
divine  offspring,  and,  therefore,  sooner  or  later  issue  in 
moral  failures.  Here  is  the  secret  of  the  inevitable  fail- 
ures of  all  ecclesiastical  irenica,  whether  the  Pope's  recent 
paternal  encyclical,  or  the  Episcopate's  splendid  overture, 
or  the  Disciples'  generous  propositions,  or  the  catholic  dec- 
laration by  the  Congregational  Association  of  New  Jersey, 
or  your  humble  speaker's  proposal  at  Florence,  Italy.    The 


152  THE  DOCTRINE 

truth  is,  all  attempts  at  singleness  or  uniformity  of  outward 
formal  organization  are  against  all  the  analogies  of  organic 
living  nature.  Take  the  plant  world :  what  varieties  of 
structures  and  functions,  from  the  cedar  of  Lebanon  to 
the  hyssop  that  springs  up  by  the  wall!  Take  the  animal 
world :  all  flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh :  but  there  is  one 
flesh  of  men,  another  flesh  of  beasts,  another  of  birds, 
another  of  fishes,  (i  Cor.  xv.  39.)  Take  the  man  world: 
what  varieties  of  races,  statures,  sexes,  faculties,  tempera- 
ments, customs!  Take  the  church  world:  what  varieties 
of  creeds,  polities,  gifts,  missions,  graces!  To  undertake 
to  decree  that  there  shall  be  but  one  kind  of  church  organ- 
ization is  as  unnatural  and  futile  as  to  undertake  to  decree 
that  there  shall  be  but  one  kind  of  plant  or  one  kind  of 
animal  or  one  kind  of  man.  Many  different  members,  but 
one  common  body.  True,  an  unvarying  uniformity  of 
creed  and  polity  and  ritual  in  all  lands  and  through  all 
times,  such  as  the  Church  of  Rome  signally  illustrates,  is 
in  a  certain  way  very  impressive.  But  there  is  peril  in  this 
very  uniformity ;  and  the  exacter  the  uniformity  the  more 
perilous.  For  decrees  of  concordance  or  "Acts  of  Uni- 
formity" imply  an  autocracy  which  is  more  than  apt  to 
become  despotic.  See  how,  in  the  case  of  Rome,  ecclesi- 
asticism  has  tended  to  supplant  character ;  the  church,  the 
Bible ;  the  Pope,  our  Lord.  Thus  the  very  uniformity  of 
Romanism  (and  there  is  no  splendider  sample  of  homogene- 
ousness)  is  morally  perilous,  tending  to  extinguish  individu- 
alism and  to  deify  churchism,  and  so  annihilating  the  very 
idea  of  unity.  No,  church  unity  cannot  be  secured  by  de- 
creeing uniformity  of  organization. 

Unity  Camiot  be  Secured  by  Abolishing  Sects. — Nor,  again, 
can  the  church  unify  herself,  at  least  in  this  aeon,  by  abol- 
ishing sects.  In  fact,  I  believe  that  each  Christian  sect,  in 
so  far  as  it  really  has  Christ's  own  spirit,  has  a  divine  mis- 


OF  THE  CHURCH  153 

sion  of  its  own.  Who  would  wish  to  erase  from  the  history 
of  Christendom  the  story  of  the  Waldenses,  the  Lutherans, 
the  Puritans,  the  Moravians,  the  Jansenists,  the  Episcopa- 
lians, the  Methodists,  the  Congregationalists,  the  Quakers, 
the  Baptists  ?  Of  course  I  cannot  go  into  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  mission  of  each  one  of  the  sects.  Let  me  only 
attempt  a  swift  characterization  in  roughest  outline  of  the 
more  salient  features  of  the  more  prominent  denominations. 
A  chief  distinctive  mission  of  the  Roman  Catholic  branch 
of  Christ's  one  church  (I  mention  it  first  only  because  it 
has  by  far  the  largest  number  of  members)  is,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  to  give  play  to  the  body  side  of  our  nature ;  and 
this  it  does  by  its  appeal  to  our  senses  in  the  way  of  archi- 
tecture, statuary,  painting,  music,  colors,  forms ;  and  nobly 
is  it  fulfilling  its  sensitive  vocation.  A  chief  distinctive  mis- 
sion of  the  Lutheran  branch  of  Christ's  one  church  is  to 
give  play  to  the  reformatory  side  of  our  nature ;  and  this  it 
does  by  protesting  against  ecclesiastical  and  theological  per- 
versions and  insisting  on  a  return  to  the  apostolic  evangel ; 
and  nobly  is  it  fulfilling  its  conservative  vocation.  A  chief 
distinctive  mission  of  the  Presbyterian  branch  of  Christ's 
one  church  is  to  give  play  to  the  theological  side  of  our 
nature ;  and  this  it  does  by  the  prominence  it  assigns  to 
creed  and  catechetical  instruction;  and  nobly  is  it  fulfill- 
ing its  sturdy  vocation.  A  chief  distinctive  mission  of  the 
Episcopal  branch  of  Christ's  one  church  is  to  give  play  to 
the  worshipful  side  of  our  nature ;  and  this  it  does  by  the 
prominence  it  assigns  to  liturgy  and  esthetics ;  and  nobly  is 
it  fulfilling  its  devotional  vocation.  A  chief  distinctive  mis- 
sion of  the  Methodist  branch  of  Christ's  one  church  is  to 
give  play  to  the  active  side  of  our  nature ;  and  this  it  does 
by  the  vigor  of  its  ecclesiastical  system  and  its  recognition 
of  the  lay  element  in  its  class-meetings  ;  and  nobly  is  it  ful- 
filling its  robust  vocation.     A  chief  distinctive  mission  of 


154  THE  DOCTRINE 

the  Quaker  branch  of  Christ's  one  church  is  to  give  play 
to  the  passive  side  of  our  nature ;  and  this  it  does  by  its 
doctrine  of  the  inner  light  and  by  its  disuse  of  forms ;  and 
nobly  is  it  fulfilling  its  placid  vocation.  A  chief  distinc- 
tive mission  of  the  Congregational  branch  of  Christ's  one 
church  is  to  give  play  to  the  personal  side  of  our  nature ; 
and  this  it  does  by  its  insistence  on  the  right  of  each  con- 
gregation to  ecclesiastical  independence ;  and  nobly  is  it 
fulfilling  its  manly  vocation.  A  chief  distinctive  mission 
of  the  Baptist  branch  of  Christ's  one  church  is  to  give 
play  to  the  exacter  side  of  our  nature ;  and  this  it  does  by 
its  demanding  literal  obedience  to  the  scriptural  ordinance 
of  baptism ;  and  nobly  is  it  fulfilling  its  stalwart  vocation. 
Thus  each  of  the  sects  has  its  own  peculiar  mission,  and 
each,  I  doubt  not,  would  be  benefited  by  some  absorption 
of  the  peculiarities  of  the  others.  I  am  quite  sure  that  we 
Baptists  (and  this  without  abating  one  jot  or  tittle  of  our 
distinctive  mission)  would  not  be  harmed  by  a  little  infu- 
sion of  the  Presbyterian  polity,  the  Episcopal  esthetics,  the 
Methodist  discipline,  the  Quaker  simplicity.  For  all  things 
are  ours  ;  whether  Paul — the  apostle  of  advance — or  Cephas 
— the  apostle  of  arrest — or  Apollos — the  apostle  of  cul- 
ture ;  all  are  ours ;  and  we  are  Christ's  ;  and  Christ  is  God's, 
(i  Cor.  iii.  21,  22.) 

Unity  Cannot  be  Secured  by  Compromise. — Nor,  once 
more,  and  most  decidedly,  can  the  church  unify  herself  by 
compromise.  This  is  the  mistake  of  those  unfortunates 
who  are  afflicted  with  cardiac  hypertrophy  or  diseased  en- 
largement of  heart.  Compromise  is  often  right  in  matters 
of  policy  or  method.  Compromise  is  always  wrong  in 
matters  of  principle  or  duty.  Truth  abhors  compromise  as 
light  abhors  darkness.  Truth  advances  her  kingdom  by 
affirmation,  not  by  evasion ;  by  victory,  not  by  surrender. 
If  there  is  in  all  this  world  a  sacred  right  it  is  the  right  of 


OF  THE  CHURCH  155 

every  human  being  to  have  his  own  personal  moral  convic- 
tions. If  there  is  in  all  this  world  a  sacred  responsibility 
it  is  the  responsibility  which  every  human  being  has  before 
his  God  and  before  his  fellows  for  those  convictions.  If 
there  is  in  all  this  world  a  sacred  obligation  it  is  the  obliga- 
tion which  rests  on  every  human  being  to  be  true,  at  what- 
ever cost,  to  those  convictions.  For  the  man  who  is  willing 
to  surrender  his  own  convictions  for  the  sake  of  "unity" 
is  a  man  whose  convictions  for  the  sake  of  unity  or  of  any- 
thing else  are  to  be  distrusted.  For  he  who  begins  with 
being  false  to  himself  will  end  with  being  false  to  everybody 
else.  Moreover,  the  unity  which  is  brought  about  by  com- 
promise is  not  unity  at  all ;  it  is  only  a  weak,  sentimental, 
flabby  uniformity.  The  boneless,  pulpy  compromiser,  like 
a  composite  photograph  in  which  every  sign  of  individual- 
ity is  merged,  looks  remarkably  kind  and  also  remarkably 
weak.     No,  unity  cannot  be  secured  by  compromise. 

Unity  Can  be  Secured  only  by  Comprehension. — How,  then, 
shall  the  church  unify  herself  ?  And  so,  affirmatively :  the 
church  must  unify  herself  by  comprehension.  Here  was 
the  grievous  mistake  of  the  beloved  disciple  when  he  said 
to  his  divine  Teacher : 

"  Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  demons  in  thy  name ; 
and  we  forbade  him,  because  he  followeth  not  with  us." 
(Luke  ix.  49.) 

It  was  the  outburst  of  an  intense  sectarianism.  It  mat- 
tered not  to  John  that  this  stranger  was  really  doing  a 
blessed  service  in  Christ's  name.  The  trouble  was  that  he 
did  not  belong  to  St.  John's  little  coterie  ;  he  was  marching 
under  a  sort  of  independent  flag.  That  was  enough  to 
condemn  him;  the  Master  had  no  use  for  irregular  out- 
siders. 

"  But  Jesus  said,  Forbid  him  not :  for  there  is  no  man 
who  shall  do  a  mighty  work  in  my  name,  and  be  able 


156  THE  DOCTRINE 

quickly  to  speak  evil  of  me.  For  he  that  is  not  against 
us  is  for  us.  For  whosoever  shall  give  you  a  cup  of  water 
to  drink,  because  ye  are  Christ's,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he 
shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward.  And  whosoever  shall 
cause  one  of  these  little  ones  that  believe  on  me  to  stum- 
ble, it  were  better  for  him  if  a  great  millstone  were  hanged 
about  his  neck,  and  he  were  cast  into  the  sea."     (Mark  ix. 

39-42.) 

It  is  as  though  our  Master  had  said :  "  No  one  who  is 
really  doing  good  in  my  name — in  the  sphere  of  my  char- 
acter and  work — can  be  false  to  me.  I  even  declare  that 
he  who  does  not  array  himself  against  me  is  really  on  my 
side.  Whoever  does  us  any  service,  however  slight,  shall 
have  a  heavenly  reward ;  but  whoever,  by  harsh  treatment, 
causes  one  of  these  little  ones  or  outsiders  who  love  me, 
however  obscure,  to  fall  into  sin,  it  were  better  for  him  that 
he  had  suffered  a  felon's  death.  Instead,  then,  of  repelling 
the  stranger,  you  ought  to  have  bidden  him  God-speed." 
You  see,  then,  our  Master's  attitude  in  this  matter  of  com- 
prehension. The  coming  unity  of  his  church  is  to  be  se- 
cured, not  by  exclusion,  but  by  inclusion. 

"But  to  what  extent  would  you  include?"  I  hear  you 
asking.  To  the  extent  of  Christianity's  horizon,  I  reply  ;  in- 
cluding anybody  and  everybody,  of  whatever  sect  or  no  sect 
at  all,  who  can  be  described  by  that  august  word  "  Chris- 
tian " ;  or,  as  the  Apostle  Paul  expresses  it  (1  Cor.  i.  2), 
"  All  that  call  upon  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
every  place,  their  Lord  and  ours." 

"  I  will  not  ask  my  neighbor  of  his  creed; 

Nor  what  he  deems  of  doctrine  old  or  new ; 
Nor  what  rights  his  honest  soul  may  need 

To  worship  God — the  only  wise  and  true ; 
Nor  what  he  thinks  of  the  anointed  Christ ; 
Nor  with  what  baptism  he  has  been  baptized. 


OF  THE  CHURCH  157 

"  I  ask  not  what  temptations  have  beset 

His  human  heart,  now  self-abased  and  sore ; 

Nor  by  what  wayside  well  the  Lord  he  met ; 
Nor  where  was  uttered,  '  Go,  and  sin  no  more.' 

Between  his  soul  and  God  that  business  lies ; 

Not  mine  to  cavil,  question,  or  despise. 

"  I  ask  not  by  which  name,  among  the  rest 

That  Christians  go  by,  he  is  named  or  known ; 

Whether  his  faith  has  ever  been  '  professed,' 
Or  whether  proven  by  his  deeds  alone ; 

So  there  be  Christhood  in  him,  all  is  well ; 

He^is  my  brother,  and  in  peace  we  dwell. 

"  If  grace  and  patience  in  his  actions  speak, 

Or  fall  in  words  of  kindness  from  his  tongue, 
Which  raise  the  fallen,  fortify  the  weak, 

And  heal  the  heart  by  sorrow  rent  and  wrung  ; 
If  he  give  good  for  ill,  and  love  for  hate — 
Friend  of  the  friendless,  poor  and  desolate — 

"  I  find  in  him  discipleship  so  true, 

So  full,  that  nothing  further  I  demand. 
He  may  be  bondman,  freedman,  Gentile,  Jew : 
But  we  are  brothers — walk  we  hand  in  hand. 
In  his  white  life  let  me  the  Christhood  see ; 
It  is  enough  for  him,  enough  for  me." 

Now  this  idea  of  comprehension  is  the  modern  contribu- 
tion to  ecclesiology  or  the  doctrine  of  the  church.  The 
old  method  was  to  search  for  similarities ;  the  new  method 
is  to  recognize  diversities.  The  church's  true  policy  here 
is  not  rejection,  but  adjustment ;  not  insistence,  but  assis- 
tance ;  not  as  Paul  and  Barnabas  angrily  parted  at  Antioch, 
but  as  Abraham  and  Lot  peacefully  parted  at  Bethel ;  not 
as  John,  who  cried,  "  Forbid !  "  but  as  Jesus,  who  replied, 
"Welcome!  "  ;  not  as  cave-dwellers  moping  in  solitude,  but 
as  cosmopolitans  living  in  God's  open  air.  O  ye  Christian 
sectarians ;  ye  who  are  dwelling  in  dark  glens  of  denomi- 


8  THE  DOCTRINE 


nationalism ;  ye  who,  like  Elijah  in  his  cave,  imagine  that 
you  alone  are  Jehovah's  true  prophets ;  ye  who  live  in  the 
hamlet  of  your  sect,  and 

"  Think  the  rustic  cackle  of  your  bourg 
The  murmur  of  the  world  " — 

come  out  from  your  dark  little  glen  into  the  sunlight  of 
God's  open  country,  and  see  how  vast  is  the  dome  of  his 
sky. 

Catholicity  the  Ideal  Church  Form. — But  how  shall  this 
unity  by  comprehension  be  effected  ?  And  so  I  pass  to 
present  for  a  moment  catholicity  as  the  ideal  church  form. 
For  each  Christian  sect,  in  so  far  as  it  has  Christ's  own 
spirit,  does  have  its  own  divine  mission.  Each  sect  is  a 
facet  in  God's  great  diamond  of  truth,  flashing  prismatic 
hues,  the  union  of  which  makes  the  white  light.  It  is  not 
given  to  any  one  man  or  to  any  one  set  of  men,  however 
great,  to  comprehend  all  truth ;  for,  if  it  were,  men  them- 
selves would  be  infinite.  Accordingly,  while  sectarianism 
is  born  of  sin,  and  is  devilish,  sect  is  born  of  finiteness,  and 
may  be  even  angelic.  Do  not  try,  then,  to  secure  unity 
by  hammering  diversities  into  monotonous  flatness.  But 
try  to  secure  unity  by  soaring  high  enough  to  comprehend 
diversities,  even  as  God's  own  sky  comprehends  ocean  and 
forest,  valley  and  mountain,  man  and  flower. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  each  denomination,  in  rearing  its 
own  ecclesiastical  structure,  works  selectively.  That  is  to 
say,  each  sect,  in  building  its  own  creed  or  polity,  builds 
on  the  remembrance  of  certain  Scriptures  which  it  regards 
as  favorable  and  on  the  oblivion  of  certain  other  Scriptures 
which  it  regards  as  unfavorable ;  equally  skilled  in  the  art 
of  remembering  and  in  the  art  of  forgetting;  dexterously 
adjusting  its  powers  of  memory  and  its  powers  of  oblivion 
to  the  supposed  necessities  of  the  case.     In  other  words, 


OF   THE  CHURCH  159 

each  sect  errs  not  so  much  in  what  it  believes  as  in  what  it 
I  fails  to  believe.  The  coming  ideal  church  will  be  built  not 
on  a  selection  of  Scriptures,  but  on  the  Bible  in  its  whole- 
ness. Can  there  be  any  better  way  of  bringing  about  the 
unification  of  Christendom  than  by  the  occasional  and  con- 
siderate interchange  of  Christian  views  in  quiet  and  informal 
conferences  of  representative  Christian  thinkers  of  all  com- 
munions ?  If  the  church  is  ever  to  be  perfected  into  one, 
that  perfectation  will  be  effected,  not  by  resolutions  of 
conventions  or  decrees  of  councils,  but  by  the  gradual  and 
silent  permeation  of  Christian  sentiments  throughout  Chris- 
tendom. 

The  Coming  Ideal  Church. — One  thing  is  certain :  the 
coming  ideal  church  will  neither  be  wholly  Baptist  nor 
/  Episcopal  nor  Methodist  nor  Presbyterian  nor  Roman  nor 
Quaker ;  but  it  will  be  Catholic  with  "  Roman  "  left  out. 
For  Christianity,  or  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  larger  than  any 
denominational  province  in  it,  even  as  the  United  States 
is  larger  than  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Christ's  body  is 
larger  than  any  one  member  of  it.  Our  Lord  Jesus  has 
but  one  body — he  is  not  a  monster.  Denominationalism 
still  has  its  place  in  the  economy  of  Christendom  ;  but  that 
place  is  no  longer  in  the  foreground ;  that  place  is  to  be 
henceforth  in  the  background.  We  are  still  to  work  along 
denominational ;  lines  but  we  are  to  work  along  denomina- 
tional lines  only  with  a  view  to  the  church  as  a  one  Whole. 
Christians  are  not  disjecta  membra;  they  are  members  one 
of  another,  and  there  is  but  one  divine  body.  Is  Christ 
divided?  Can  Satan  dismember  that  blessed  body,  and  toss 
one  member  into  the  camp  of  the  Baptists,  a  second  mem- 
ber into  the  camp  of  the  Methodists,  a  third  into  the  camp 
of  the  Presbyterians?  Was  Paul  crucified  for  you  ?  Were 
you  baptized  into  the  name  of  Peter  or  Luther  or  Calvin 
or  Wesley  or  Fox  or  Bunyan  or  Swedenborg?     No;  One 


160  THE   DOCTRINE 

is  your  Master,  and  all  ye  are  brothers ;  fellow-members  of 
that  one  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  one  Head.  And  the 
fellow-members  are  coordinate.  The  eye  is  a  member  of 
the  body,  and  a  very  important  member ;  but  was  the  eye 
created  to  gaze  only  in  a  mirror  and  see  nothing  but  the 
image  of  itself  ?  The  ear  is  another  very  important  mem- 
ber of  the  organism ;  but  what  becomes  of  its  importance 
if  it  is  separated  from  the  body  ?  All  the  worth  it  has  lies 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  body  and  ministers  to  it. 
If  the  whole  church  were  only  one  gigantic  Congregational 
eye,  or  one  colossal  Methodist  ear,  or  one  stupendous  Epis- 
copal hand,  or  one  enormous  Baptist  thumb,  or  one  measure- 
less Presbyterian  foot,  where  were  Christ's  one,  yet  many- 
membered,  body  ?  But  now  they  are  many  members,  yet 
but  one  body.  Accordingly  the  Episcopal  hand  cannot 
say  to  the  Methodist  ear,  "I  have  no  need  of  thee;"  nor, 
again,  the  Pontifical  head  to  the  Waldensian  feet,  "  I  have 
no  need  of  you."  For  all  Christians  form  the  one  body  of 
Christ,  and  each  Christian  is  a  functional  member  thereof. 
And  the  one  body  of  Christ  is  healthy  and  effective  in 
proportion  as  each  Christian  faithfully  discharges  his  own 
organic  function,  all  the  members — whether  eye  or  hand, 
ear  or  foot,  sinew  or  nerve,  bone  or  cell — working  together 
in  reciprocal  cooperation. 

Our  Topic  Momentous. — Our  topic  is  indeed  momentous. 
I  am  quite  aware  that  this  struggling  after  Christian  unity 
is  often  sneered  at  as  a  girlish  sentimentalism,  unworthy 
the  sturdy  muscle  of  denominational  champions,  contend- 
ing earnestly  for  the  faith  which  was  once  for  all  delivered 
unto  the  saints.  But  does  it  never  occur  to  these  redoubt- 
able knights  of  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the 
saints  that  this  ancient  faith  meant,  and  still  means,  chiefly 
this :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,"  and  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"; 


OF   THE  CHURCH  161 

there  being  no  other  commandment  greater  than  these,  since 
"on  these  two  commandments  hangeth  the  whole  law,  and 
the  prophets"?  (Matt.  xxii.  37-40.)  Do  these  doughty 
warriors  of  the  primitive  orthodoxy  never  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  majestic  truth  that  (Rom.  xhi.  8-10;  Gal.  v.  14; 
James  ii.  8)  the  whole  law  is  summed  up  in  this  royal  word, 
namely,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  this  love 
being  itself  the  very  "bond  of  perfectness  "?  (Col.  iii.  14.) 
Aye, 

"I'm  apt  to  think  the  man 
That  could  surround  the  sum  of  things,  and  spy 
The  heart  of  God  and  secrets  of  his  empire, 
Would  speak  but  love.     With  him  the  bright  result 
Would  change  the  hue  of  intermediate  scenes, 
And  make  one  thing  of  all  theology." 

This  matter,  then,  of  the  unification  of  Christendom  is 
more  than  a  mere  sentiment  or  sweet  privilege  ;  like  humil- 
ity or  prayer  or  faith,  it  is  not  even  a  matter  of  option ;  it 
is  the  most  imperial  of  the  commandments ;  it  is  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  ordinances.  "  Now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love, 
these  three;  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love."  (1  Cor. 
xiii.  13.)  And  no  wonder;  for  God  himself  is  love,  so  that 
he  who  abides  in  love  abides  in  God,  and  God  in  him. 
(1  John  iv.  16.)  In  brief,  love  is  the  characterizing  mark 
of  the  Christian  religion,  separating  it  discretively  from  all 
other  religions,  and  by  that  fact  proving  it  to  be  divine : 
"  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye 
have  love  one  to  another."     (John  xiii.  35.) 

Auspicious  Auguries. — Thank  God,  we  are  living  under 
happy  auguries.  The  growing  catholicity  of  our  times,  as 
indicated  by  such  expressions  as  these :  international  arbi- 
tration ;  international  law ;  international  congresses  for  se- 
curing a  common  standard  of  time,  of  distance,  of  weight, 
of  money,  of  signals ;  international  Sunday-school  lessons ; 


162  THE  DOCTRINE 

a  universal  alphabet;  the  world's  fairs;  the  world's  week 
of  prayer ;  the  numerous  union  societies  throughout  Chris- 
tendom— the  Evangelical  Alliance ;  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  ;  Christian  Endeavor  Societies ;  King's  Sons ; 
King's  Daughters — the  McAll  Mission;  the  overtures  of 
a  liturgical  church  and  the  responses  of  at  least  some  non- 
liturgical  churches;  the  interdenominational  salutations 
and  reciprocities ;  the  growing  observance  of  ecclesiastical 
comity  in  mission  stations  ;  the  letters  of  commendation  and 
transfer  from  one  denomination  to  another;  the  growing 
care  for  the  poor  and  feeble  and  "  uncomely  parts  " ;  the 
marked  tendency  toward  cooperation  in  Christian  reforms 
and  charities  throughout  the  world ;  the  recent  recognition 
of  the  Sunday  before  Christmas  as  the  universal  Peace  Sun- 
day ;  the  already  well-nigh  observance  of  Sunday  itself  as 
the  world's  common  Sabbath  ;  the  Parliament  of  Religions ; 
the  growing  disposition  to  maximize  the  points  wherein  the 
sects  agree,  and  to  minimize  the  points  wherein  the  sects  dif- 
fer ;  the  interchange  of  ecclesiastical  opinions  by  the  Ameri- 
can Institute  of  Christian  Philosophy,  under  the  auspices  of 
Methodist  Chautauqua ;  in  brief,  the  growing  desire  to  "  fol- 
low after  things  which  make  for  peace,  and  things  where- 
by we  may  upbuild  one  another  "  (Rom.  xiv.  19) — all  this, 
and  such  as  this,  is  auspicious  of  the  happy  day  when 
"  Ephraim  shall  no  longer  envy  Judah,  and  Judah  shall  no 
longer  vex  Ephraim."  (Isa.  xi.  13.)  And  in  that  day  of 
everlasting  amity  all  Christians,  of  whatever  sect,  will  be 
"  Low-churchmen,"  because  true  to  man  ;  all  will  be  "  High- 
churchmen,"  because  true  to  God ;  all  will  be  "  Broad- 
churchmen,"  because  true  to  God  and  to  man.  Or,  to  bor- 
row phrases  from  continental  parliaments,  all  Christians  will 
belong  to  the  "  Right,"  and  all  will  belong  to  the  "  Left," 
and  all  will  belong  to  the  "  Center  "  ;  because  Jesus  Christ — 
himself  the  Master  of  Assemblies — is  alike  center,  radius, 


OF   THE  CHURCH  163 

circumference.  Then  shall  all  earth  become  one  Jerusalem, 
and  all  days  one  perpetual  Pentecost,  wherein  the  unity  of 
mankind,  lost  at  Babel,  shall  be  restored  in  Christ,  and  all 
men  shall  again  be  of  one  speech. 

Heaven  grant  us  the  blessedness  of  seeing  with  our  own 
eyes  what  many  prophets  and  righteous  men  have  from 
the  beginning  desired  to  see,  namely,  one  Christian  church 
throughout  the  world,  even 

THE   ONE    HOLY   CATHOLIC   CHURCH   OF   THE    SON   OF   GOD! 

Collect  for  All  Saints'  Day. — "  O  Almighty  God,  who 
hast  knit  together  thine  elect  in  one  communion  and  fel- 
lowship, in  the  mystical  body  of  thy  Son,  Christ  our  Lord ; 
grant  us  grace  so  to  follow  thy  blessed  saints  in  all  virtuous 
and  godly  living  that  we  may  come  to  those  unspeakable 
joys  which  thou  hast  prepared  for  those  who  unfeignedly 
love  thee ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen." 


VI 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PROBLEMS  OF  SCIENCE 
AND  PHILOSOPHY 

By  HENRY  MITCHELL  MacCRACKEN, 
Chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York. 


165 


VI 

THE  CHURCH  AND   THE  PROBLEMS   OF  SCIENCE  AND 
PHILOSOPHY 

The  church  is  the  body  of  men  and  women  who  enlist 
to  serve  God  and  Jesus  Christ.  The  single  fact  of  enlist- 
ment— which  word  I  use  as  equivalent  to  promising  in  pub- 
lic or  deliberately  engaging  with  others — constitutes  these 
men  and  women  a  visible  organism.  No  rite  or  ceremony 
beyond  the  declaration  of  service  is  needed  in  order  that 
an  individual  may  join  the  church  visible.  When  David 
sang  to  his  father  and  mother,  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd," 
he  joined  the  church.  When  Ruth  said  to  Naomi,  "  Thy 
God  shall  be  my  God,"  she  joined  the  church.  When  the 
younger  son  said  to  his  fellow-swineherds,  "  I  will  arise  and 
go  to  my  father,"  he  became  part  of  that  organization,  and 
no  baptism,  or  communion,  or  vote  of  session,  or  confirma- 
tion by  bishop,  could  do  any  more  than  impress  the  fact 
on  his  own  attention  and  that  of  others.  This  body,  the 
church,  has  a  single  end:  to  present  itself,  in  each  of  its 
constituent  members,  perfect  before  God  and  before  one 
another,  "without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing." 
The  object  at  which  the  church  aims  is  to  save.  Salva- 
tion is  likeness  to  God;  godliness  is  godlikeness.  To  be 
like  God  is  achieved  by  choosing  to  be  like  God.  Salva- 
tion demands,  therefore,  as  the  first  question,  What  are  we 
to  believe  concerning  God  ?  Learning  God  is  the  earliest 
necessity  of  the  soul ;  it  is  also  the  latest  necessity  in  order 

167 


1 68     THE   CHURCH  AND    THE  PROBLEMS 

to  salvation.  The  church  is  a  school  of  men  and  women 
learning  God  because,  intending  to  become  like  God,  they 
fix  their  minds  on  this ;  they  begin  also  to  love  God  as 
much  as  they  know  how.  They  love  also  and  sometimes 
even  more  intensely  objects  which  they  think  show  God  to 
their  minds — a  brazen  serpent,  a  ceremony,  a  creed.  It  is 
an  old  mistake  to  substitute  the  creature  for  the  Creator, 
the  ordinance  of  God  for  the  Divine,  Perfect  One. 

Turning  from  this  statement  respecting  the  church  and 
its  object,  I  take  up  the  other  member  of  my  theme, 
namely,  "Science  and  Philosophy."  The  theme,  as  as- 
signed, does  not,  to  my  mind,  follow  the  order  in  which 
we  should  approach  the  subjects  named.  Instead  of  "  The 
Church  and  the  Problems  of  Science  and  Philosophy,"  it 
should  be  "  The  Church  and  the  Problems  of  Philosophy 
and  Science."  It  is  in  the  interest  of  clear  thinking  that 
we  attach  to  each  of  these  words  a  definition  as  nearly  as 
possible  exclusive  of  the  definition  given  the  other.  Phi- 
losophy asks,  What  and  whence  the  world  ?  and,  as  in- 
volved in  this,  What  and  whence  myself  ?  What,  if  any, 
higher  intelligence  than  myself,  and  what  relation  exists 
between  us?  In  science,  self  observes  phenomena  or 
facts,  reasons  upon  them  and  reduces  them  to  a  system 
of  proposition — in  other  words,  reduces  them  to  laws. 
Science  is  the  superstructure  ;  philosophy  is  the  foundation. 
The  results  of  science  often  seem  more  real  than  philoso- 
phy ;  so  the  bridge  towers  and  cables  seem  more  real  than 
the  foundations.  They  impress  themselves  upon  the  atten- 
tion, while  with  the  substructure  the  proverb  is  true,  "  Out 
of  sight,  out  of  mind."  If  the  engineer  of  the  proposed 
bridge  across  the  Hudson,  which  Congress  has  authorized, 
would  let  me  dictate  the  part  of  the  bridge  under  water,  I 
could  make  it  impossible  for  his  bridge  to  carry  its  own 
weight.    If  the  church  let  university  professors  dictate  its 


OF  SCIENCE  AND   PHILOSOPHY  169 

philosophy,  the  theology  or  morals  of  the  church  may  be 
discovered,  to  our  amazement,  to  rest  on  nothing  and  to 
be  nothing.  And  there  are  plenty  of  university  profes- 
sors ready  to  present  us  with  a  philosophy. 

Even  novel-writers,  nowadays,  define  philosophy  and  sci- 
ence. Mr.  J.  Marion  Crawford  has  recently  published  a 
story  which  I  was  led  to  read  because  the  scene  was  laid 
in  New  York  City,  and  in  the  part  of  New  York  City 
where  I  have  for  ten  years  past  had  my  home.  He  puts 
in  the  mouth  of  one  of  his  characters  this  deliverance  on 
philosophy  and  science:  "We  know  everything  that's  true, 
and  it  all  seems  old  because  we  do  know  it.  I  don't  mean 
little  peddling  properties  of  petroleum  and  tricks  with  tele- 
phones— what  they  call  science,  you  know.  I  mean  about 
big  things  that  don't  change :  ideas,  right  and  wrong,  and 
the  future  life,  and  the  soul."  This  character,  albeit  not 
the  hero  or  heroine,  is  not  altogether  without  a  notion  of 
things  as  they  are. 

The  first  question  is,  therefore,  What  do  we  know  ?  What 
is  it  the  church  knows  ?  What  philosophy  can  the  church 
tolerate  ?  To  what,  if  to  any,  must  she  be  intolerant  ?  If 
we  take  as  the  church's  motto,  "In  necessariis  Veritas^  in 
dubiis  caritas"  what  is  necessarius  and  what  dubius  ? 

Let  me  turn  to  the  problems  of  philosophy,  asking  you 
to  recollect  that  the  question  is,  What  shall  the  church  do 
with  them  ?  The  most  recent  book  on  metaphysics — sent 
to  me,  as  a  professor  of  philosophy,  for  an  opinion — may 
serve  for  illustration.  It  is  published  in  English  this  year 
for  the  first  time.  It  is  written  by  a  professor  of  philosophy 
in  a  North  German  university.  It  declares  :  "  The  simple, 
fundamental  question  of  all  philosophy  is,  What  is  the 
world  ?"  The  answer  makes  God  to  be  the  world  and  the 
world  to  be  God.  It  says  of  theism :  "  It  is  the  funda- 
mental dogma  of  primitive  Judaism,  according  to  which 


170  THE   CHURCH  AND    THE  PROBLEMS 

the  world  is  created  by  a  personal  being  similar  to  our- 
selves— an  hypothesis  at  the  boldness  of  which  we  are  not 
surprised,  only  because  we  are  accustomed  to  hear  it  from 
our  youth  up."  "  This  view,"  the  writer  continues,  "  seems 
to  have  been  not  so  much  a  result  of  natural  development 
as,  rather,  the  inspiration  of  a  single  man,  of  Moses,  whose 
greatness  it  is  not  easy  to  overrate.  With  the  people  it 
never  became  very  popular." 

"  If  any  one  tries,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  to  understand 
what  personality  really  means,  he  will  be  inclined  to  regard 
this  conception  of  the  Being  of  beings  as  personality  almost 
a  blasphemy.  It  is,  rather,  a  supernatural  power,  a  world- 
forming  principle,  a  something  which  no  eye  sees,  no  name 
denotes,  no  concept  reaches  nor  ever  can  reach.  And  this 
Being  [with  a  capital  B],  in  the  last  and  profoundest  sense, 
is  ourselves." 

With  such  a  notion  of  theism  this  professor  of  philosophy 
at  Kiel  University  is,  of  course,  a  pantheist. 

"  All  is  Will "  [with  a  capital  W].  "  Only  negative  as- 
sertions about  Will  are  possible  to  us."  "  Every  being  in 
nature  is  a  manifestation  of  the  whole  and  individual  Will." 

If  any  student  thinks  that  the  rejecter  of  theism  and  up- 
holder of  pantheism  will  be  obliged  to  quarrel  openly  with 
the  creed  of  Christianity  he  little  knows  the  skill  of  such 
jugglers  of  language.  This  writer  (who  has  visited  India, 
and  quotes  copiously  from  Hindu  metaphysics)  amazes  by 
his  linguistic  jugglery  more  than  an  Indian  juggler  amazes 
by  his  manual  dexterity. 

After  saying  that  the  Being  of  beings,  in  the  last  and  pro- 
foundest sense,  is  ourselves,  he  says  this  same  supernatural 
power  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  not  only  do  we  know  God 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  as  ourselves,  but,  also,  we  become  the 
Christ  who  delivers  or  redeems  the  world,  when  we  reach 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  171 

the  point  of  redeeming  the  world  from  the  sphere  of  real 
things,  and  of  looking  on  it  as  "  a  nonentity." 

Having  thus  denned  God  and  the  Holy  Ghost  and  re- 
demption, he  is  ready  to  explain  the  ground  of  duty : 

"  Why  should  I  love  my  neighbor  as  myself  ?  The 
answer  is  not  in  the  Bible,  but  is  in  the  Veda:  'Because 
you  are  your  neighbor,  and  mere  delusion  makes  you  believe 
that  your  neighbor  is  something  different  from  yourself.' " 

Also  he  explains  immortality:  "There  is  no  real  con- 
tinuance of  life  beyond  death."  But  the  Will  "hastens 
from  generation  to  generation  to  an  ever  new  expansion 
of  its  being." 

I  have  presented  this  writer  at  some  length  because  his 
book  is  the  latest  that  has  come  to  me.  He  is  professor 
of  philosophy  in  a  Christian  university.  And  a  great  edu- 
cational publishing-house  in  New  York  writes  me,  asking 
me  if  this  book  will  not  suit  me  for  class-room  use,  and  if  I 
cannot  commend  it.  The  book,  no  doubt,  is  sent  to  every 
college  professor  of  philosophy  in  the  land.  It  is  only  one 
specimen — the  latest  specimen — of  one  philosophy — pan- 
theistic philosophy.  But  I  must  not  let  this  philosophy  go 
without  a  quotation  from  its  metaphysics  of  morality : 

"  The  eternal  saving  doctrine  of  denial  appears  in  Chris- 
tianity as  the  giving  up  of  one's  own  sinful  will  to  a  holy 
will  conceived  as  personal.  This,"  he  says,  "  is  an  anthro- 
pomorphic conception,  irreconcilable  with  science,  and 
favors  eudemonism.  On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  hope 
to  find  a  form  more  capable  of  moving  the  soul,  one  more 
conducive  to  the  spirit  of  genuine  religion.  Therefore,  for 
the  people,  it  will  still  have  currency  as  exoteric  teaching." 
He  instances  Christ  as  practising  exoteric  teaching  when 
he  uttered  parables ;  then  adds :  "  Enough  if  by  means  of 
science  we  succeed  in  leading  the  thinking  portion  of  man- 


i72  THE  CHURCH  AND    THE  PROBLEMS 

kind  from  exoteric  to  esoteric  Christianity,"  which,  says  he, 
is  the  metaphysics  of  Schopenhauer. 

Here  is  the  latest  morality:  People  believe  that  there 
is  a  personal  will  above  theirs.  This  is  false ;  but  let  them 
believe  it  and  think  that  they  have  Christianity.  Really 
only  we  have  got  hold  of  the  essence  of  Christianity  who 
hold  that  there  is  no  will  above  ours,  and  who  follow 
Schopenhauer. 

This  affords  me  an  opportunity  for  my  proposition  re- 
garding the  church  and  philosophy.  The  church  has  a 
philosophy.  She  can  tolerate  only  one  philosophy,  and  she 
can  no  more  endure  any  one  of  the  other  three  philosophies 
than  a  man  sailing  from  the  south  seas  can  look  east,  west, 
and  south  in  order  to  sail  north.  The  church's  relation  to 
philosophy  is  not  to  discover  new  continents,  but  to  steer 
the  ship  in  the  known  channel,  deep  and  safe.  It  is  not  to 
be  a  Christopher  Columbus,  but  a  Palinurus ;  a  Palinurus, 
however,  who  keeps  wide  awake,  with  firm  hold  on  the 
helm. 

Every  man  has  a  philosophy,  original  or  second-hand. 
A  man's  philosophy  makes  him  or  mars  him.  A  man's 
theology  rests  upon  his  philosophy  as  a  wall  rests  upon  its 
foundation. 

Suppose  false  theology  win  the  day  so  far  as  to  convince 
men  that  Christ  never  lived ;  or,  if  he  lived,  he  was  cruci- 
fied and  buried,  but  he  rose  never  at  all.  Still  there  would 
be  a  church  that  would  say,  "  I  believe  in  God,  the  Father 
Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  I  believe  in  the 
life  everlasting." 

But  suppose  false  philosophies  win  the  day.  Then  there 
will  be  no  church,  because  we  shall  all  have  entered  into 
esoteric  Christianity,  and  found  that  the  giving  up  of  one's 
own  sinful  will  to  a  holy  will  conceived  as  personal  is  un- 
scientific and  untrue. 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  173 

The  church's  relation  to  philosophy  is  to  know  the  false 
philosophies  when  they  are  taught,  and  to  expose  their  false- 
ness, and  to  exclude  whoever  insists  on  teaching  them  from 
the  place  of  a  Christian  teacher.  Less  than  this  is  for  the 
church  to  propagate  a  lie  and  to  make  herself  a  liar. 

I  have  said  that  though  antichristian  belief  should  win  the 
day,  and  convince  men  that  Christ  never  lived,  the  church 
must  remain,  because  the  faith  would  exist,  as  it  existed  in 
David  or  Isaiah,  that  Christ  could  live  and  would  live.  It 
would  be  only  the  matter  of  waiting  till  we  had  the  proofs 
of  a  Christ  among  us. 

A  saying  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  in  his  posthumous  work, 
has  ever  had  a  weighty  influence  on  my  mind,  namely, 
that  the  Christian  faith  is  open  to  no  philosophical  objec- 
tion that  does  not  hold  equally  well  against  theism.  That 
is,  theism  as  a  philosophy  makes  miracles  reasonable  and 
probable.  It  becomes  no  longer  a  question  of  philosophy 
whether  Christ  rose  and  ascended  to  heaven ;  it  is  ques- 
tion of  evidence  for  the  jury.  Paul's  saying,  that  "  if  Christ 
be  not  risen,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable,"  has  always 
meant  to  me  that  Paul  could  disbelieve  the  resurrection 
only  by  disbelieving  God  altogether.  This  antithesis  is  be- 
tween Christ  and  the  materialism  which  he  quotes  as  say- 
ing, "  Let  us  eat  and  drink ;  for  to-morrow  we  die."  Paul 
was  as  sure  of  Christ's  living  as  of  a  living  God.  He  did 
not  mean  to  say  that  provided  a  man  could  cling  to  his 
Heavenly  Father,  even  without  faith  in  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion, he  would  be  most  miserable,  but  that  he  himself  could 
not  do  it ;  that  if  he  let  the  latter  go  he  let  everything  go. 
We  are  many  of  us  not  quite  like  Paul  in  this  belief.  We 
say  not,  "  If  we  let  the  historical  Christ  gG  we  let  God  go," 
but  that,  "  If  we  let  the  possibility  of  the  resurrection  go 
we  let  theism  also  go."  The  church,  in  order  not  to  let 
everything  go,  must  not  let  the  philosophy  of  theism  give 


174  THE   CHURCH   AND    THE   PROBLEMS 

ground  one  instant  to  false  philosophies.  She  must  not 
rest  as  confident  and  indifferent  as  now.  She  must  attack 
pantheism,  with  its  assumption  of  the  eternal  "  Substance  " 
of  Spinoza,  "the  absolute  Idea"  of  Hegel,  or  the  "Will" 
of  Schopenhauer,  as  a  theory  going  in  a  circle  and  explain- 
ing really  nothing.  According  to  it  God  evolves  the  world, 
yet  is  only  realized  in  its  evolution. 

We  attack  atheism  and  agnosticism  as  contradicting  every 
kind  of  knowledge  and  reducing  every  proposition  of  every 
science  to  a  nothing.  We  attack  materialism  as  a  half- 
baked  theory  or  hypothesis  giving  as  the  basis  and  origin 
of  self-consciousness,  of  duty,  of  imagination,  of  a  Paul,  a 
Moses,  or  a  Christ,  the  motion  of  particles  that  we  know 
by  sight  and  touch.  It  is  blind  to  the  deeper  knowing  that 
we  have  immediately  of  our  own  soul. 

If  time  allowed  I  should  like  to  show  at  length  how  ac- 
tive is  the  propaganda  of  agnostic  philosophy ;  how  sus- 
pense of  judgment,  in  regard  to  the  greatest  questions,  is 
considered  not  only  allowable,  but  a  work  of  wisdom.  As 
John  Stuart  Mill  writes,  "  The  rational  attitude  of  a  think- 
ing man  toward  the  supreme  force,  whether  in  natural  or 
revealed  religion,  is  that  of  skepticism,  as  distinguished  from 
belief  on  the  one  hand  and  from  atheism  on  the  other." 
In  connection  therewith  it  could  be  shown  that  the  heir 
apparent  of  agnostic  philosophy  is  materialistic  philosophy. 
Time  forbids  my  entering  upon  this  question. 

I  accept  it  that  the  question  of  philosophy  is,  "  What  is 
the  world  ?"  because  that  question  involves,  "  What  is  God, 
and  what  is  soul,  and  what  is  the  relation  of  each  to  the 
other  two?  "  also,  "  What  is  duty  ?  "  and  so  includes  the  rela- 
tion of  Tightness.  Science  asks,  "  What  are  we  to  do  with 
phenomena  or  facts  ?  "  It  observes,  reasons,  and  reduces 
to  a  system  of  laws  or  propositions.  This  is  so  in  psycho- 
logical science  and  physical  science,  political  science  and 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  175 

theological  science,  biblical  science  and  ethical  science,  his- 
torical science  and  linguistic  science.  But  science  does 
not  deal  with  certain  questions  that  are  presupposed.  The 
questions  which  I  have  named — What  is  God  ?  What  is 
the  world  ?  What  is  soul  ?  What  is  duty? — these  are 
philosophy. 

Science  has  to  accept  its  foundation  from  philosophy. 
In  the  science  of  the  stars  you  accept  that  the  star  is ;  that 
self  is ;  that  there  is  a  relation  between  them  called  knowing 
or  knowledge ;  and  that  certain  knowledge  is  infallible — 
for  example,  that  a  star  is  ego  or  non-ego ;  it  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  an  entity  between  these  two. 

Now  what  has  the  church  to  do  with  science  ?  I  have 
intimated  that  it  has  everything  to  do  with  philosophy. 
But  what  has  the  church,  organized  to  present  souls  per- 
fect in  purity  before  God,  to  do  with  physical  and  psycho- 
logical science  ;  with  ethical  and  political  science  as  a  body 
of  facts  reduced  to  laws  or  propositions ;  what  to  do  with 
linguistic  and  historical  science  ;  what  with  biblical  science, 
as  a  science  of  theology  derived  from  the  Bible ;  or  with 
theological  science,  as  gathered  not  only  from  the  Bible, 
but  from  universal  observation — the  world  of  nature  and 
of  man  ? 

He  is  a  very  dim-sighted  person  who  does  not  see  that 
the  question  what  the  church  has  to  do  with  science  divides 
itself  at  once  into  two.  Because  the  church  is  an  organiza- 
tion to  make  men  like  God,  it  has  everything  to  do  with 
theological  science,  or  what  God  says,  and  ethical  science, 
or  what  ought  we  to  do.  Because  the  church  has  accepted 
the  Bible  as  the  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  it  has 
everything  to  do  with  biblical  science  in  the  sense  of  the 
science  of  what  the  Bible  teaches  we  are  to  believe  concern- 
ing God  and  concerning  the  duty  God  requires  of  man. 
But  as  to  mathematics  and  physical  science  (I  mean  apart 


176  THE   CHURCH  AND    THE  PROBLEMS 

from  the  philosophy  of  the  soul  and  of  the  world ;  I  mean 
as  a  system  of  observed  phenomena),  as  to  psychological 
and  linguistic  science,  historical,  sociological,  and  political 
science,  and  the  rest,  I  am  sure  the  church,  as  such,  is  not 
called  to  elaborate  or  to  know  them.  The  greatest  mis- 
takes the  church  has  made  have  come  from  thinking  that 
she  had  everything  to  do  and  to  say  about  them  as  mere 
sciences. 

The  foundation  mistake  of  the  church  has  come  from 
the  same  feeling  that  turned  the  Hebrews  from  Jehovah  to 
the  golden  calf,  from  God  to  the  temple,  from  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law  to  the  trifles  of  tithings  and  ablutions. 
It  is  the  tired  feeling  that  comes  over  the  soul  in  trying  to 
keep  company  with  its  Maker.  It  grows  weary,  and  still  it 
is  afraid  not  to  be  religious ;  so  it  deceives  itself  by  substi- 
tuting for  studying  God  and  serving  God  and  toiling  to  win 
men  to  be  like  God,  studying  something  more  tangible  and 
material — for  example,  what  the  Bible  says  about  the  mode 
of  creation  or  the  mode  of  civil  government  or  the  shape 
of  the  earth — and  then  setting  up  its  theory  on  a  pedestal 
to  be  idolized,  and  toiling  to  win  and  to  coerce  men  to 
bow  down  thereunto. 

It  is  not  religion,  but  antireligion ;  it  is  not  Christ,  but 
antichrist,  that  has  brought  the  church  into  conflict  at  any 
time  with  true  science. 

Now  I  grant  that  the  Bible  touches  in  some  part  every 
science  that  I  have  mentioned.  It  seems  in  psychological 
science,  to  men  like  Delitzsch,  to  make  body,  soul,  and 
spirit — a  trichotomy ;  to  others,  and  to  myself,  only  body 
and  soul — a  dichotomy.  It  seems  to  Mr.  Jasper  to  teach 
"the  sun  do  move,"  and  so  it  seemed  to  the  church  that 
condemned  Galileo.  It  seems  to  us  not  to  enforce  this 
proposition  in  physical  science.  It  seems  to  many  to  teach 
that  varieties  of  language  all  came  from  the  occurrence  at 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  177 

Babel ;  to  others  that  they  came  by  a  long  evolution ;  and 
in  this  it  touches,  albeit  very  slightly,  linguistic  science. 

It  was  an  important  and,  I  think,  accurate  saying  of  one 
of  my  predecessors  on  this  platform  when  he  declared  that 
higher  criticism  does  not  belong  to  biblical  science,  but  to 
historical  science.  Biblical  science  is  to  concern  itself  ex- 
clusively with  the  question,  What  does  the  Bible  teach  as 
to  what  we  are  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duty 
God  requires  of  man  ? 

Historical  science  settles  when  and  how  the  Bible  was 
written.  I  have  had  serious  questions  as  to  whether  the 
problems  of  higher  criticism  do  not  belong  to  a  professor- 
ship in  the  university  faculty  of  arts  and  science,  rather 
than  to  a  professorship  of  theology.  Higher  criticism  is  not 
vital  to  theology  in  the  same  sense  in  which  philosophy  is 
vital  to  theology.  Yet  no  theological  seminary  has  a  pro- 
fessorship of  philosophy.  A  General  Assembly  might  be 
fairly  well  qualified  to  sit  upon  a  question  of  philosophy, 
because  philosophy  is  to  be  settled  by  data  in  the  possession 
of  every  man.  A  General  Assembly  might  be  well  quali- 
fied to  sit  upon  a  question  of  biblical  science  in  the  sense 
of  what  the  Bible  teaches  about  God  and  duty.  But  it  is 
very  poorly  qualified  to  sit  upon  a  question  of  historical 
science,  because  historical  science  requires  the  teaching  of 
a  vast  number  of  facts ;  the  reasoning  upon  them ;  the  re- 
ducing them  to  propositions.  The  pope,  the  embodiment 
of  a  large  part  of  the  visible  church,  has  been  often  found 
very  poorly  qualified  to  sit  upon  a  question  of  natural 
science. 

If  I  were  amending  things  I  would  transfer  every  theo- 
logical professor  who  wants  to  devote  himself  to  higher 
criticism  to  the  university  faculty  of  arts,  and  give  him  full 
sweep  there.  Then  I  would  transfer  the  decision  of  such 
questions  as,  "Who  wrote  the  latter  part  of  Isaiah?"  to  a 


178  THE  CHURCH  AND    THE  PROBLEMS 

conference  of  university  professors  of  historical  science. 
Many  a  student  of  theology  receives  very  much  such  a  re- 
turn from  the  theological  faculty  as  the  Englishman  com- 
plained of  receiving  when  he  went  to  hear  a  celebrated 
preacher.  Said  he :  "  I  went  to  learn  the  way  to  heaven, 
and  the  only  information  I  got  was  how  to  travel  to  Pales- 
tine." 

Biblical  science  is  what  the  Bible  teaches  of  God  and 
duty.  Biblical  science  is  not  political  science  nor  socio- 
logical science.  Biblical  science  is  not  the  whole  of  ethi- 
cal science.  That  is,  while  the  Bible  is  an  infallible  rule 
of  duty,  it  does  not  relieve  the  individual  from  the  use  of 
his  intellect  in  working  out  the  application  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments, or  of  the  eleventh  and  new  commandment,  to 
the  condition  of  facts  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  The 
value  of  the  Bible  is  that  it  is  human  and  counts  nothing 
human  foreign  or  hostile.  This  has  made  it  the  cyclopedia 
of  generations — nay,  the  library  ;  the  common  school — nay, 
the  university.  But  the  Bible  itself  nowhere  proposes  to 
be  a  cyclopedia  of  any  science. 

Here  comes  in  frequent  mistake.  Albeit  the  Bible  itself 
records  moral  advance  in  its  writers  on  questions  of  ap- 
plied ethics  or  ordinary  civil  law,  as,  for  example,  in  the 
matter  of  polygamy  and  the  matter  of  divorce  :  in  one  age 
Bible  writers  allowing  polygamy  and  arbitrary  divorce  as 
quite  moral,  while  Christ  distinctly  teaches  that  they  are 
immoral — nevertheless  some  are  unwilling  to  look  at  the 
Bible  as  progressive  in  its  ethical  science. 

We  claim  that  the  Bible  for  each  generation  has  been 
the  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  in  the  sense  that  it 
was  ever  perfect  in  its  philosophy  of  God  and  man,  of  the 
world  and  duty,  and  the  highest  possible  rule  for  each  gen- 
eration in  applied  ethics  and  also  in  applied  science.  But 
we  find  the  Bible  also  a  history  of  the  growth  of  the  church 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  179 

in  morals  and  doctrine.  The  greatest  misuse  of  the  Bible 
is  to  treat  it  as  if  it  had  fallen  down  complete  from  the 
skies,  like  the  fabled  image  of  Diana.  Mistaken  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Bible  has  attended  every  conilict  between  the 
church  and  true  science. 

The  relation  of  the  church  to  science  demands  that  the 
church  place  in  its  creed  only  what  it  is  needful  to  believe, 
concerning  God  and  concerning  duty.  Whether  this  should 
be  as  brief  as  the  Apostles'  Creed  or  as  elaborate  as  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Anglican  Church  is  something 
that  the  church  must  decide.  But  it  must  mark  out  the  line 
by  this  test :  Is  the  proposition  one  that  is  needful  to  show 
God  and  to  show  duty  ?  Adopting  this  rule,  the  church 
will  often  enough  touch  the  field  of  this  or  that  science 
outside  biblical  or  theological  science.  It  is  well  that  the 
preacher  should  not  be  afraid  of  any  fence  round  any  sci- 
entific inclosure.  Outside  his  office  as  a  preacher  he  may 
debate  Darwinism  or  woman-suffrage ;  debate  higher  criti- 
cism or  prohibition.  But  do  not  let  him  drag  the  church, 
as  the  church,  into  the  arena,  and  try  to  stretch  the  creed 
that  is  to  teach  God  and  duty  to  cover  any  and  every 
subject.  On  the  other  hand,  let  the  church  give  wide  lib- 
erty of  opinion  and  teaching  as  to  all  questions  that  do  not 
necessarily  conflict  with  her  doctrine  of  God  and  of  obliga- 
tion. The  church  of  the  first  centuries  gave  wide  room  to 
Gnosticism,  except  when  Gnosticism  forsook  the  questions 
of  science  and  shook  the  foundations  of  theology  because 
she  inculcated  false  philosophy. 

The  scientists  who  profess  agnosticism  are  in  one  re- 
spect very  like  their  predecessors  who  professed  Gnosti- 
cism. Gnosticism  speculated  in  respect  to  the  intelligences 
above  man.  It  speculated  celestially.  It  guessed  what 
kind  of  and  how  many  intelligent  beings  were  in  the  next 
grade  above  man,  and  in  the  degree  above  that,  and  so  on. 


180  THE  CHURCH  AND   THE  PROBLEMS 

In  that  age  there  had  been  comparatively  little  observation 
of  the  material  universe,  for  there  was  no  telescope  nor 
microscope  nor  spectroscope.  Hence  speculation  was  in 
regard  to  the  world  of  intelligences.  In  our  day  agnosti- 
cism speculates  not  at  all  celestially,  but  altogether  terres- 
trially: How  shall  we  fill  in  the  gaps,  not  between  man 
and  the  highest  intelligence,  but  between  man  and  proto- 
plasm? I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all  who  speculate  are 
agnostics,  but  as  a  rule  agnostics  are  speculators.  I  have 
no  objection  to  this  speculation  so  long  as  it  does  not 
proceed  upon  a  false  metaphysic.  But  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  there  is  a  deal  of  hypothesis  that  remains  as 
purely  mere  guess  as  the  Gnostic  hypotheses  were  mere 
guesses ;  you  could  neither  prove  them  nor  disprove  them. 

The  attitude  of  the  church  toward  a  vast  deal  of  the 
natural  science  of  the  day  should  be  patient  waiting ;  and 
of  individual  church-members,  kindly  skepticism  or  agnos- 
ticism. 

May  I  draw  a  leaf  from  my  own  experience  ?  For  some 
time  after  leaving  college  my  attitude  as  to  the  Christian 
creed  was  undecided  and  skeptical.  When  I  accepted  it 
and  chose  to  follow  it  I  resolved  to  employ  any  agnostic 
or  skeptical  tendency  of  my  mind  chiefly  in  reference  to 
new  hypotheses  in  science.  I  have  practised  this  for  thirty 
years  with  a  decided  economy  of  both  intellect  and  feel- 
ing. It  has  been  a  misfortune  for  the  church  and  the  pope, 
and  many  a  lesser  teacher  of  morals  and  religion,  that  as 
to  science  he  was  not  ready  oftener  to  say  simply,  "  I  do 
not  know." 

It  is  an  excellent  time  now  for  the  church  to  say,  "  I  do 
not  know,"  as  to  sociological  matters.  There  are  not  a 
few  people  who  would  commit  the  church  to  this  or  that 
solution  of  the  strifes  between  the  employed  and  the  em- 
ployer.    They  would  make  it  obligatory  upon  employers 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  181 

and  employed  to  accept  arbitration  as  the  solution  of  every 
difference  of  opinion.  They  would  prescribe  wage-sharing 
to  every  business  enterprise.  They  would  settle  the  num- 
ber of  hours  in  a  day's  work. 

Now,  interesting  as  these  questions  are  as  a  part  of  soci- 
ology, I  submit  that  the  church,  as  such,  is  not  qualified 
to  solve  them.  She  must  leave  them  to  specialists  to  work 
out,  confining  herself  to  the  ethical  rules  which  she  is  sure 
of,  as  covering  all  questions.  But  she  must  exhort  her 
sons,  her  mightiest  intellects,  as  individuals,  to  give  them- 
selves to  these  questions,  and  to  find  their  solution.  She 
must  quicken  the  intellect  and  conscience  of  her  members, 
till  they  apply  the  law  of  love,  far  and  near,  to  the  relation 
of  the  employer  and  the  employed.  She  must  quicken  the 
conscience  and  intellect  of  the  nations,  so  that  when  men 
will  not  be  amenable  to  the  law  of  love  the  sword  of  the 
ruler  shall  be  upheld  as  a  terror  to  evil-doers  and  a  com- 
fort to  those  who  do  well. 

I  fully  recognize  that  on  what  the  church  should  teach 
and  practise  as  duty  there  will  ever  be  divergences.  Within 
our  own  lifetimes  we  have  seen  one  part  of  the  church 
formally  proclaiming  slaveholding  sinful,  another  part  ex- 
cusing and  upholding  it ;  one  part  proclaiming  every  use 
of  intoxicating  drinks  sinful,  other  parts  of  the  church  at 
least  tolerating  it ;  one  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
suspending  Father  McGlynn  for  his  sociological  theories, 
another  part  championing  him,  and  the  pope  at  Rome,  as 
usual,  effecting  a  compromise  on  the  question. 

There  never  will  come  a  time  when  the  church  will  agree 
with  herself,  still  less  when  she  will  agree  with  the  world 
outside,  as  to  what  is  needed  in  her  sphere  of  instruction, 
which  is  to  embrace  all  that  we  are  to  believe  concerning 
God  and  concerning  what  duty  God  requires  of  man. 
Hence  comes  the  expediency  of  divers  denominations  in 


1 82  THE  CHURCH  AND   THE  PROBLEMS 

the  one  church,  which  I  assert  and  maintain  with  all  my 
heart.  All  theories  of  a  church  without  denominations 
resolve  themselves,  to  me,  into,  first,  either  independency 
(every  parish,  with  its  preacher,  a  denomination,  or  every 
person  his  own  denomination,  like  David  Deans,  in  Walter 
Scott's  "  Heart  of  Mid-Lothian  ") ;  or,  second,  the  church 
declaring  and  teaching  only  a-b-c's  of  theology  and  ethics, 
and  not  venturing  into  deeper  questions,  and  so  presenting 
apparent  uniformity ;  or,  third,  the  church  calling  itself  one 
denomination,  as  the  Romanist  Church  has  called  itself, 
with  Thomists  and  Scotists,  Jansenists  and  Jesuits,  within 
its  fold,  and  pretending  falsely  that  it  has  no  denominations. 

Among  such  extremes  the  true  mean  is  found  in  accept- 
ing denominations  as  having  a  right  to  exist,  but  only  when 
they  have  something  to  say  in  ecclesiastical  science  or  theo- 
logical science,  in  ethical  science  or  biblical  science,  that 
is  not  said  already,  and  that,  in  the  judgment  of  those  who 
have  learned  it,  needs  to  be  said  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  mankind. 

The  relation  of  the  church  to  science  means  to  many 
persons  especially  its  relation  to  natural  science.  This 
relation,  let  me  say,  is  one  of  suggestion,  inspiration,  and 
true  aid. 

The  church  accepts  doubt  and  questioning  as  the  fore- 
runners of  truth  in  religion.  This  is  the  pedagogic  of  the 
church  as  to  religious  discovery.  The  same  has  proved 
the  method  which  leads  to  scientific  discovery. 

The  church  teaches  final  cause.  When  it  sets  children 
to  answering  the  first  question  of  the  Shorter  Catechism, 
"What  is  the  chief  end  of  man  ?"  it  suggests  what  is  the 
chief  end  of  the  earth,  of  animals,  of  plants,  of  steam,  of 
electricity.  This  acceptance  of  a  divine  end  for  everything 
has  ever  been  a  stimulant  to  intellect  to  discover  ends  or 
final  cause. 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  ^3 

The  church  teaches  that  order  is  God's  law ;  that  he  is 
the  Father  of  Lights,  with  whom  there  is  no  variableness 
nor  shadow  of  turning.  And  this  naturally  impels  a  Kep- 
ler, a  Copernicus,  and  an  Isaac  Newton  to  inquire  into  the 
universe  as  a  cosmos,  being  first  sure  of  God,  and  that  God 
is  a  God  of  order,  and  that  there  is  an  order  of  the  uni- 
verse, if  it  can  only  be  discovered.  The  order  of  the  solar 
system  never  was  found  out  by  Greek  or  Roman,  but  only 
by  devout  Christians. 

The  church  has  been  (beyond  all  that  books  of  science 
have  ever  admitted)  the  friend  and  promoter  of  true  science 
of  every  kind.  She  must  continue  to  be  the  same.  How  ? 
It  seems  to  be  a  requisite  of  the  true  scientist  that  he  be  a 
thorough  theist.  A  distinguished  writer  upon  physics  says : 
"  There  is  not  a  single  one  of  the  founders  or  great  origina- 
tors [of  physical  science]  who  has  not  been  placed  under 
the  influence  of  the  idea  of  a  mighty  and  wise  Creator, 
and  who  has  not  received,  from  that  lofty  contemplation, 
the  rays  of  light  which  have  directed  his  steps." 

This  is  diametrically  opposite  to  the  assertion  often 
made  that  the  chief  discoverers  in  the  field  of  science  are 
agnostic.  I  find  the  roll  reads  thus :  Copernicus,  Kepler, 
Galileo,  Newton,  and  Herschel ;  Descartes,  Pascal,  and 
Liebnitz  ;  Linnseus  and  Cuvier ;  Davy  and  Liebig ;  Ampere 
and  Faraday;  Owen  and  Agassiz;  Brewster  and  Clerk 
Maxwell ;  Thomson  and  Tait ;  Dawson  and  Beale,  and 
Pasteur.  It  seems,  then,  that  not  the  pantheistic  atmo- 
sphere, nor  materialistic,  nor  atheistic,  has  nourished  scien- 
tists, but  the  air  of  countries  where  the  church  has  been 
an  influence. 

There  is  nothing  so  sophistical  as  writers  who,  when  they 
discuss  the  conflict  of  new  truth  with  old  error,  identify  old 
error  with  the  church,  new  truth  with  the  antichurch.  It 
is  because  they  identify  the  church  with  some  official  bureau. 


1 84     THE  CHURCH  AND   THE  PROBLEMS 

I  heard  Dr.  McGlynn  distinguish  between  the  Catholic 
Church  and  the  official  "  ring  "  in  the  city  of  Rome.  At 
the  Reformation  the  old  error  and  the  hierarchy  that  im- 
posed itself  upon  the  church  were  in  league ;  but  the  real 
church,  which  included  the  members  who  were  preeminent 
in  faith  and  good  works,  was  with  Luther,  and  aided  new 
truth  everywhere.  Whence  came  new  truth  as  to  the  rights 
of  man  and  free  government,  if  not  from  John  Calvin  and 
John  Knox  ?  It  was  in  the  very  nature  of  their  doctrine 
to  inspire  men  with  the  feeling  that  it  is  worth  while  to  in- 
quire into  and  learn  whatever  is  useful  to  mankind.  Their 
science  was  political  science  more  than  physical  science, 
and  I  excuse  them  for  omitting  the  latter  when  I  find  that 
these  two  men  virtually  organized  the  principles  of  free 
government  which  have  blessed  Switzerland  and  Holland, 
Britain  and  America,  for  the  last  three  hundred  years. 

The  church,  therefore,  in  teaching  man  his  dignity  and 
responsibility,  is  maintaining  a  most  fruitful  relation  to  sci- 
ence. It  is  forbidding  the  young  man  to  sit  down  saying 
as  to  pure  science,  as  to  knowledge  for  its  own  sake,  "Cui 
bono  I"  It  inspires  a  man  to  effort  in  order  to  be  worthy 
of  himself,  and  nerves  him  to  deal  with  this  world,  taking 
as  his  motto,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work;" 
"  We  are  laborers  together  with  God." 

Kant  declares,  in  his  "  Critique  of  Pure  Reason  "  :  "  The 
hypothesis  of  a  wise  Author  of  the  universe  is  necessary 
for  my  guidance  in  the  investigation  of  nature."  But  who 
maintains  this  hypothesis  of  one  God,  a  Person  wise  and 
good,  except  the  church? 

There  is  nothing  under  inductive  logic  unless  one  God  is 
there.  When,  along  with  a  certain  element  in  the  labora- 
tory, I  find  certain  appearances,  and  when  experimenting 
with  the  sun  and  the  stars  I  find  the  same  appearances, 
why  should  I  declare  that  I  find  the  same  element  yonder 


OF  SCIENCE  AND  PHILOSOPHY  185 

in  the  stars  ?  Except  I  hold  that  there  is  unity  in  the  uni- 
verse— that  is,  one  God,  and  he  a  wise  God — I  have  no 
basis  for  any  induction  whatever. 

As  I  have  shown,  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  best- 
known  discoverers  have  not  shunned  to  profess  that  they 
worked  not  as  unto  man,  but  unto  God.  My  conception 
is  that  when  true  philosophy  and  true  religion  die  the 
funeral  of  science  will  not  be  long  deferred. 

The  head  of  the  Scientific  School  of  Yale  said  to  me, 
some  years  since,  that  more  real,  public,  self-forgetful  in- 
terest had  been  shown  by  the  clergymen  trustees  of  Yale  in 
the  development  of  science  than  by  all  the  other  trustees 
put  together.  How  often  have  you  and  I  known  Chris- 
tian men,  with  no  special  knowledge  or  enjoyment  of  the 
natural  sciences,  give  hearty  effort  and  liberal  endowments 
to  astronomy,  physics,  biology,  just  because  they  wanted 
to  help  their  generation  serve  God  and  man  by  making 
the  most  of  itself  and  discovering  whatever  there  is  in 
God's  universe  to  discover! 

Neither  antichurch  nor  non-church  founded  the  system 
of  Chautauqua.  Chautauqua,  in  its  scientific  relations,  is  a 
spokesman  of  the  church.  It  stirs  young  men  and  young 
women  to  become  students  to  the  glory  of  God.  It  says : 
"  Choose,  if  you  will,  chemistry,  biology,  or  physics  as  your 
field  of  lifelong  study  and  investigation.  Strive  to  discover, 
or  to  teach  others  to  discover,  new  foods,  new  materials  for 
illumination,  new  colors,  new  medicines,  new  extinguishers 
of  pain,  new  mechanical  appliances,  new  and  more  plenti- 
ful instruments  of  pleasure  to  mankind." 

The  motive  that  may  be  behind  such  choice  and  effort 
may,  indeed,  be  avarice,  or  love  of  power  disguised  as  love 
of  knowledge,  or  it  may  be  curiosity  pure  and  simple ;  but 
I  have  never  yet  known  well  any  true  scientist  that  did  not 
comfort  himself  with  the  belief  that  he  was  working  with 


1 86     THE   CHURCH  AND    THE  PROBLEMS 

an  additional  motive,  namely,  the  motive  of  love  to  God 
and  man. 

The  church  fulfils  perhaps  her  greatest  work  in  reference 
to  science  at  large  when  she  inspires  youth  with  the  resolve 
to  investigate  and  know,  in  order  to  add  to  the  worth  and 
happiness  of  man,  and  so  to  exalt  and  worship  Almighty 
God. 


VII 
THE  CHURCH    AND  THE  CITY    PROBLEM 

REV.  JOHN  B.  DEVINS, 

Pastor  of  Hope  Chapel,  New  York,  and  President  of  the 
New  York  Employment  Society. 


187 


VII 

THE  CHURCH  AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM 

"  The  Doctrine  of  the  Church  "  and  "  The  Church  and 
Problems  of  Science  and  Philosophy "  have  been  pre- 
sented before  the  American  Institute  of  Christian  Philoso- 
phy by  masters  whom  all  delight  to  honor.  Another  emi- 
nent teacher  was  announced  for  this  afternoon,  to  whom 
we  should  all  have  listened  reverently  and  with  great 
profit ;  for  from  his  rich  experience  as  a  pastor  of  an  insti- 
tutional church  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  as  the  professor 
of  sociology  in  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  Dr. 
Graham  Taylor  would  have  spread  before  us  a  royal  feast 
on  "The  Church  and  the  Problems  of  Modern  Society." 
No  one  regrets  his  absence  more  than  the  speaker.  When 
President  Bradford  wrote  that  Professor  Taylor  could  not 
be  here  to-day,  and  added  that  he  wished  me  to  speak  on 
the  special  features  of  the  social  problem,  in  which  I  am 
interested  as  a  mission-worker  in  New  York,  my  first  im- 
pulse was  to  decline  the  invitation ;  but,  on  reflection,  it 
seemed  wrong  to  refuse  to  say  a  word  in  behalf  of  those 
to  whom  we  are  giving  our  lives ;  and  with  the  hope  that 
the  facts  which  I  shall  give  may  arouse  interest  and  stimu- 
late inquiry,  I  have  prepared  this  paper. 

(i)  What  are  the  problems  of  the  city  that  confront  the 
church  in  its  work  among  the  so-called  "Other  Half"? 
(2)  What  is  the  church  doing  to  solve  these  problems  ? 

189 


190  THE   CHURCH 

(3)  What  may  the  church  do  to  hasten  their  solution  that 
she  is  not  doing  to-day? 

Will  you  pardon  a  personal  word  as  we  begin  this  study 
together  ?  I  come  to  you  merely  as  a  student  of  the  city 
problem.  For  nearly  twenty  years  I  have  given  it  my  daily 
attention,  first  as  a  college  student  in  the  New  York  Uni- 
versity, then  as  a  theological  student  in  the  Union  Semi- 
nary, and  later  in  connection  with  one  of  the  leading  daily 
papers.  For  several  years  I  went  among  the  working 
classes  every  summer  for  the  Fresh-air  Fund  of  the  New 
York  Tribune,  and  learned  many  things  about  the  people 
and  their  surroundings.  But  it  was  not  until,  with  my  wife 
and  family,  I  moved  into  the  chapel  building  whose  people 
I  serve,  a  mile  east  of  the  Bowery  and  half  a  mile  below 
Fourteenth  Street,  that  I  really  began  to  know  anything 
about  the  problem  of  the  poor.  After  more  than  six  years 
of  daily  contact  with  the  people  as  pastor,  friend,  and  neigh- 
bor, I  am  still  a  student,  and  shall  repeat  to  you  simply  a 
few  of  the  lessons  which  I  have  learned  so  far,  and  mention 
others  in  the  solution  of  which  many  men  and  women  are 
now  engaged. 

You  may  have  seen  recently,  in  an  illustrated  paper,  a 
picture  entitled  "  Satisfaction."  A  pretty  society  girl  sits 
in  an  easy  arm-chair,  wearing  a  far-away  look.  On  one  of 
the  arms  of  her  chair  reclines  a  girl  friend,  equally  pretty, 
but  not  so  angelic  in  appearance ;  and  this  is  the  burden 
of  their  very  interesting  conversation : 

Arabella  :  Yes,  I  feel  quite  saintly  these  days. 

Murilla  :  What  is  the  reason  ? 

Arabella:  Oh,  I  haven't  gotten  over  the  feeling  yet 
that  I  had  when  I  went  to  the  Charity  Ball  and  enjoyed 
myself  so  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor. 

There  are  thousands  of  people  who  are  studying  the 
problem  of    the   city  to-day  with   something  of  Arabella's 


AND    THE  CITY  PROBLEM  191 

spirit — "enjoying  themselves  so  much  for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor."  Some  of  them  tell  us,  in  magazine  articles  and 
in  platform  speeches,  how  to  "reach  the  masses."  They 
know  to  a  certainty.  But  too  many  of  them,  in  outlining 
their  plans,  beautiful  to  the  eye,  lose  sight  altogether  of  the 
human  nature  of  the  people  with  whom  they  would  have 
to  deal  if  they  attempted  to  carry  out  their  plans.  Leave 
that  out  of  the  problem  and  the  solution  is  not  so  difficult. 
But — believe  one  who  speaks  from  observation  and  expe- 
rience— the  church  cannot  ignore  the  human  nature  which 
it  finds  here. 

I.    THE    PROBLEM    OF    THE    CITY. 

Walter  Besant,  in  his  "  Children  of  Gibeon,"  gives  us  one 
class  of  people  that  the  city  missionary  meets  daily.  But 
no  writer,  no  speaker,  no  camera,  can  portray  the  several 
classes  of  people  as  they  really  are.  You  cannot  present 
the  tenement-house  problem  on  paper :  you  cannot  draw  a 
picture  sufficiently  vivid  to  be  lifelike.  The  camera  fails 
here  also :  you  cannot  photograph  an  odor.  The  stereop- 
ticon  tells  only  half  the  truth :  you  cannot  flash  a  dwarfed 
intellect  or  a  stunted  soul  upon  canvas.  To  understand 
very  much  about  the  homes  of  the  poor  you  must  live  with 
the  people  and  live  as  they  live ;  you  must  sleep  where  they 
sleep  and  sleep  as  they  sleep  in  their  poorly  ventilated 
rooms  ;  you  must  eat  what  they  eat,  with  quality  frequently 
sacrificed  to  quantity  ;  you  must  breathe  the  foul  air  which 
they  are  obliged  to  inhale,  often  through  no  fault  of  their 
own ;  you  must  walk  through  the  filthy  streets  in  which  they 
are  compelled  to  spend  much  of  their  time,  because  some 
one  withholds  the  small  parks  to  which  they  are  entitled ; 
you  must  read  the  cheap  literature  which  they  read,  quality 
again  being  a  secondary  matter ;  you  must  climb  the  steps 


192  THE   CHURCH 

of  the  dark  and  often  ill-smelling  stairs  which  lead  to  their 
"room,"  or  "room  and  bedroom,"  where  frequently  five  or 
six  persons  live,  eat,  sleep,  and  die ;  you  must  undergo  priva- 
tion as  they  do — unjustly,  it  seems  to  them  sometimes,  and 
to  others  also ;  you  must  go  to  bed  hungry  and  fall  asleep 
from  exhaustion  after  walking  for  hours  looking  for  work ; 
you  must  hear  the  landlord  or,  worse,  his  agent,  insisting 
on  the  rent  already  overdue,  when  you  have  not  a  dime 
in  the  house ;  you  must  meet  the  insurance  agent,  whose 
weekly  visits  alone  seem  to  stand  between  you  and  the 
Potter's  Field ;  you  must  listen  to  your  children  crying  for 
bread,  when  there  is  not  a  crust  in  the  cupboard  nor  a 
penny  in  the  purse  to  supply  it ;  you  must  watch  your  wife 
or  child  suffer  and  waste  and  die,  when  the  prescription 
lies  on  the  table,  and  you  cannot  get  the  medicine  for  lack 
of  money :  you  must  know  something  of  these  every-day 
experiences  of  hundreds  of  families  before  you  can  under- 
stand very  much  about  the  tenement-house  problem  and 
its  relation  to  the  municipal  government. 

When  those  who  influence  public  opinion  realize  what  a 
terrible  danger  to  the  city  the  tenement-house  as  an  insti- 
tution is,  a  wonderful  change  will  take  place.  Much  is 
expected  from  the  Tenement-house  Committee  appointed 
by  Governor  Flower,  which  is  to  report  to  the  legislature 
next  winter.  Efforts  to  purify  politics  or  to  raise  the  moral 
standard  of  the  city  will  be  of  little  avail  while  the  source 
of  the  trouble  remains  untouched.  Superintendent  Byrnes, 
of  the  New  York  Police  Department,  is  quoted  as  saying, 
recently : 

"The  tenements  are  one  of  the  biggest  cogs  in  the 
machine  which  makes  criminals,  male  and  female.  The 
associations  of  the  tenement  districts  are  dangerous — no 
one  knows  it  better  than  I — both  to  the  purity  of  women 
and  the  honesty  of  men.     That  the  overcrowding  of  the 


AND    THE   CITY  PROBLEM  193 

tenements  must  fill  childish  minds" with  vicious  and  wicked 
knowledge  is  certain.  That  a  large  proportion  of  our  popu- 
lation lives  in  such  environment  cannot  but  be  a  serious 
menace  to  society." 

The  questions  that  perplex  the  poor  man  are  as  varied 
as  those  which  concern  his  more  fortunate  brother.  The 
daily  struggle  for  bread  and  clothing  and  a  home  for  him- 
self and  family ;  the  education  of  his  children,  that  they 
may  have  a  better  start  in  life  than  he  had ;  the  religious 
life,  especially  the  Sunday  question,  which  presents  itself 
to  the  car-driver  from  a  different  point  of  view  than  to  the 
stock-holder;  the  true  relation  of  capital  and  labor,  with 
their  strikes  and  their  lockouts;  the  tenement-house,  with 
all  its  evils ;  the  corner  groggery,  often  more  inviting  than 
the  church  building  that  stands  near  it ;  the  daily  tempta- 
tions, of  which  you  and  your  children  have  never  so  much 
as  dreamed,  which  meet  the  sons  and  especially  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  laboring  man,  as  they  leave  home,  at  an  age  when 
they  should  be  in  school,  to  earn  the  two  or  three  dollars  a 
week  needed  to  eke  out  the  monthly  rent — these  are  a  few 
of  the  pressing  features  of  the  problem  which  daily  con- 
fronts the  laboring  man  and  those  who  are  working  among 
the  poor. 

American  cities  are  too  near  home  for  us  to  grasp  the 
problems  bound  up  in  them  as  we  should  if  we  were  deal- 
ing with  Tokio  or  Pekin  or  even  London.  It  is  not  good 
form  to  have  a  pessimistic  spirit  regarding  our  great  coun- 
try. Our  national  pride  is  touched  when  the  spiritual  needs 
of  our  own  cities  are  faithfully  presented.  "  Darkest  Eng- 
land "  moved  America  to  tears,  and  yet  London  has  a  very 
small  percent,  of  foreign  population  and  New  York  has 
more  than  forty  percent.  When  the  true  "  Bitter  Cry  of 
Outcast  New  York  "  is  heard,  the  Christian  world  will  be 
stirred  to  its  depths.     Let  us  glance  at  a  few  facts  appa- 


194  THE   CHURCH 

rent  to  the  most  casual  observer  of  the  problems  confront- 
ing the  church  in  the  gateway  of  the  nation. 

Between  the  dawn  of  two  days  one  hundred  and  some- 
times two  hundred  people  die  in  New  York  City ;  one  body 
in  every  ten  fills  an  unknown  grave  in  the  Potter's  Field. 
One  and  sometimes  more  of  these  unknown,  uncared-for 
people  are  girls  and  young  women  from  the  streets,  many 
of  them  born  in  the  quiet  country  towns  and  picturesque 
villages  in  which  some  of  you  may  live.  Two  thousand 
people,  it  is  said,  live  in  the  canal-boats  which  lie  in  the 
docks  around  the  city  during  the  winter,  responsible  to  no 
church  in  particular,  and  no  denomination  caring  especially 
for  them.  The  sailors  on  the  high  seas  fare  far  better  than 
these  poor  boatmen  and  their  families.  A  great  French 
colony  on  the  West  Side  is  almost  wholly  destitute  of  re- 
ligious instruction  or  religious  care.  We  send  generous 
contributions  to  the  McAll  Mission  in  France,  and  we  do 
well;  but  this  colony  is  so  near  us  that  we  overlook  its 
needs.  The  colored  people  living  in  New  York  are  far  less 
romantic  to  us  than  are  their  brethren,  the  freedmen,  living 
in  the  South.  I  have  never  heard  of  a  freedmen's  board 
carrying  the  gospel  to  the  negroes  in  our  city.  The  Pres- 
byterians have  one  small  church  for  the  colored  people ; 
they  have  a  single  Bohemian  church  and  two  or  three 
missions  for  the  immense  Bohemian  population  eager  to 
hear  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Within  five  miles  of  the  heathen 
temple  in  Mott  Street — an  abomination  in  a  Christian  land 
— are  three  or  four  thousand  Chinamen  who  will  rise  up  in 
the  judgment-day  against  some  of  us,  I  fear.  And  the  sad 
fact  must  be  added  that  many  American  women  associated 
with  these  Celestials  are  heathen  practically  quite  as  much 
as  are  the  followers  of  Confucius. 

More  people  live  in  the  lodging-houses  of  New  York 
than  the  entire  population  of  many  of  the  most  important 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  195 

cities  of  the  nation.  Do  you  know  what  a  cheap  lodging- 
house  is  ?  Did  you  ever  see  one  in  operation  ?  One  mid- 
night visit  will  keep  you  from  ever  saying  again,  "  We  are 
of  all  men  most  miserable."  Come  with  me  to  one  of  the 
Mulberry  Street  dives  after  midnight.  Your  heart  will  be 
moved  to  pity  as  you  see  the  miserable  men  and  women 
herded  together,  drinking  stale  beer,  singing  vile  songs,  and 
cursing  their  ill  luck.  Let  us  visit  together  the  five-cent 
and  the  two-cent  lodging-houses.  The  farmer  who  did 
not  provide  for  his  cattle  better  than  these  people  are  cared 
for  would  be  arrested  for  cruelty  to  animals ;  and  yet  these 
rough  bodies  that  we  see  cover  souls  whose  destiny  is 
eternal.  Do  we  care  where  they  spend  their  eternity  ? 
Are  they  mere  cattle  to  us  ?  With  a  policeman  and  a 
health  officer  I  entered  one  of  these  dismal  dens,  not  long 
ago,  in  a  James  Street  basement.  There  was  at  least  a 
foot  of  water  on  the  floor,  and  the  considerate  proprietor 
had  placed  boards  on  little  piles  of  brick,  and  thrown  straw 
over  the  boards ;  and  there,  like  so  many  swine,  lay  men  and 
women  and  children,  the  water  within  a  few  inches  of  their 
bodies,  but  not  near  enough  to  do  the  good  for  which  water 
was  intended.  When  the  tide  in  the  East  River  was  high 
the  water  rose,  and  another  brick  was  added  to  the  pile. 

In  one  house  in  Bone  Alley,  not  far  from  Hope  Chapel, 
eighty  families  live  to-day.  I  tried  to  hire  two  vacant 
rooms  in  this  tenement-house  a  few  years  ago,  that  we 
might  start  a  mission-school  there  for  the  scores  of  appa- 
rently neglected  children  in  the  alley.  The  housekeeper 
refused  to  rent  them,  and  when  I  pressed  her  for  a  reason 
she  told  me  that  every  one  of  the  eighty  families  in  the 
building  earned  its  living  by  picking  bones  and  rags  from 
the  street  barrels.  She  added  that  she  had  positive  orders 
from  the  owner  of  the  house  not  to  rent  the  rooms  to  any 
one  but  a  rag-picker  or  a  bone-picker.     She  did  not  know 


196  THE   CHURCH 

my  errand,  and  as  she  stood  in  a  room  in  which  there  was 
a  large  pile  of  rags — not  new  ones  either — I  had  no  reason 
to  doubt  her  statement.  Imagine  a  village  of  four  hundred 
people  in  one  part  of  these  Chautauqua  grounds,  if  you 
please,  supported  by  ash-barrel  refuse.  I  will  not  say  that 
I  wish  them  here,  but  I  would  be  glad  to  have  them  out  of 
New  York.  I  can  take  you  to  an  alley  on  the  East  Side 
where  only  blind  people  live ;  but  their  very  affliction  is 
their  capital. 

Think  of  the  Italians  in  the  city — an  army  of  them — for 
whom  very  little  is  done  by  the  Protestant  Church.  Ange- 
lini  touches  our  hearts  and  our  pockets  with  his  earnest 
plea  for  sunny  Italy ;  but  the  rag-picker  who  soils  our  side- 
walk, or  the  seller  of  fruit  on  the  next  corner,  is  too  near 
us  to  excite  our  interest  or  our  sympathy.  More  Italians 
landed  at  New  York  two  years  ago  than  the  entire  popu- 
lation of  Camden,  N.  J.,  or  of  Reading,  Pa.  Russia,  with- 
out Poland,  sent  a  city  in  that  single  year  larger  than  Pat- 
erson,  N.  J.  If  the  immigrants  landing  at  New  York  two 
years  ago  had  all  settled  on  the  shores  of  Chautauqua 
Lake — and  I  devoutly  wish  they  had — they  would  have 
formed  the  fifth  largest  city  in  the  United  States.  More 
immigrants  came  in  1891-92  than  the  population  of  any 
city  in  the  Union  except  New  York.  Every  seventh  per- 
son, perhaps  every  sixth,  in  the  metropolis  is  a  follower  of 
Abraham,  with  only  here  and  there  a  follower  of  Jesus 
among  them.  There  are  nearly  as  many  Jews  in  New 
York  at  this  moment  as  there  are  people  in  Cincinnati  or 
Pittsburg.  The  Protestant  Church  sends  missionaries  to 
Brazil,  Belgium,  and  Italy,  but  lets  severely  alone  the  great 
body  of  Catholics  in  our  own  country. 

A  down-town  clergyman — not  a  Presbyterian — says  of 
his  parish :  "  On  one  side  of  me  is  a  block  in  which,  the 
police  say,  thirty-nine  languages  and  dialects  are  spoken. 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  197 

Within  four  blocks  is  a  city  more  foreign  than  any  city  in 
Europe  this  side  of  Constantinople.  I  have  found  nothing 
in  Whitechapel  so  squalid."  Of  a  thousand  men  employed 
in  one  branch  of  relief  work  last  winter,  twenty-seven  nation- 
alities were  represented,  counting  all  who  call  themselves 
Americans  as  one  nation.  For  years  I  had  intended  to  be 
a  foreign  missionary,  and  had  that  field  in  view ;  but  Provi- 
dence directed  my  steps  otherwise,  and  I  find  that  after  all 
I  am  a  foreign  missionary:  the  people  have  come  to  me 
instead  of  my  going  to  them. 

"  I  said,  '  Let  me  walk  in  the  fields.' 
He  said,  'No,  walk  in  the  town.' 
I  said,  'There  are  no  flowers  there.' 
He  said,  '  No  flowers  but  a  crown.' 

"  I  said,  '  But  the  skies  are  black ; 

There  is  nothing  but  noise  and  din.' 
And  he  wept  as  he  sent  me  back ; 
'There  is  more,'  he  said — 'there  is  sin.' 

"  I  said,  '  But  the  air  is  thick, 
And  fogs  are  veiling  the  sun. 
He  answered,  '  Yet  souls  are  sick, 
And  souls  in  the  darkness  undone.' 

"  I  said,  '  I  shall  miss  the  light, 

And  friends  will  miss  me,  they  say.' 
He  answered,  '  Choose  to-night, 
If  I  am  to  miss  you,  or  they.' 

"  I  pleaded  for  time  to  be  given. 
He  said,  '  Is  it  hard  to  decide  ? 
It  will  not  seem  hard  in  heaven 

To  have  followed  the  steps  of  your  Guide.'  " 

You  will   not   understand    me,  when   I   emphasize    so 
strongly  the  needs  of  the  poor,  to  hold  that  all  the  saints 


198  THE   CHURCH 

in  New  York  are  among  the  "  Other  Half,"  and  that  all 
the  sinners  are  among  those  who  live  up-town.  Saintship 
is  not  altogether  a  question  of  locality ;  but  one  cannot 
help  feeling  that  those  who  have  less  of  this  world's  goods 
than  their  fellows  have  more  cause  for  our  sympathy  and 
our  efforts.  Mrs.  Lofty  has  ridden  behind  her  prancing 
team  in  Central  Park  or  on  the  boulevard  at  Newport  to- 
day, enjoying  the  invigorating  air  and  also  the  attention 
attracted  by  her  beautiful  turnout.  Mrs.  Lowly  has  car- 
ried her  little  one  down  the  side  street,  on  the  shady  side, 
to  the  East  River ;  and  there,  sitting  on  the  deserted  pier, 
she  has  thanked  God  for  a  chance  to  breathe  even  the 
air  poisoned  by  the  sewer  filth  emptying  into  the  stream 
beneath  her  feet.  The  Lord  will  hold  some  one  responsi- 
ble some  day  for  denying  to  the  poor  of  New  York  the 
small  parks  already  granted  to  them  by  the  State.  All  honor 
to  the  noble  men  and  women  who  have  been  working  for 
years  to  secure  parks  and  playgrounds  for  the  working- 
man  and  his  family. 

The  children  of  the  poor.  "  Have  ye  no  pity  for  the  poor, 
miserable  children?"  says  Canon  Farrar.  "Is  there  no 
voice  strong  enough  to  plead  '  like  angels,  trumpet-tongued, 
against  the  deep  damnation  of  their  taking  off' — these 
children  who,  in  the  language  of  Southey,  are  not  so  much 
born  into  the  world  as  damned  into  the  world  ;  predestined, 
as  it  were,  to  live  lives  of  disease  and  degradation,  because 
of  the  drink  in  the  midst  of  which  they  are  brought  up,  and 
of  which  they  have  the  hereditary  taint  in  their  very  veins." 
Thank  God  for  the  St.  John's  Guild,  the  Tribune  Fresh- 
air  Fund,  the  Herald  Ice  Fund,  the  World  Sick  Babies' 
Fund,  the  Christian  Herald  Fresh-air  Fund,  and  a  host  of 
other  public  and  private  charities  that  care  for  the  children 
of  the  poor! 

Does  some  one  ask  why  there  is  so  much  poverty  in  the 


AND    THE   CITY  PROBLEM  199 

city  ?  Many  people  are  poor  always  because  they  were 
born  poor.  They  have  never  had  a  fair  chance  in  the 
race,  in  this  world  at  least.  They  were  handicapped  at 
the  outset.  Their  ancestry,  for  several  generations,  were 
shiftless,  and  the  probabilities  are  that  their  descendants 
will  be  equally  shiftless.  New  blood  must  be  infused,  new 
surroundings  made,  new  ambitions  aroused,  before  a  change 
for  the  better  will  be  seen.  You  remember  "  Margaret,  the 
Mother  of  Criminals,"  a  pauper  child  born  in  this  State  a 
century  ago.  Mr.  E.  V.  Smalley  says  of  her  descendants : 
"  In  one  generation  of  her  unhappy  line  there  were  twenty 
children,  of  whom  seventeen  lived  to  maturity.  Nine  served 
terms,  aggregating  fifty  years,  in  the  State  prison,  for  high 
crimes,  and  all  the  others  were  frequent  inmates  of  jails  and 
almshouses.  It  is  said  that  of  the  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  descendants  of  this  outcast  girl,  two  hundred  com- 
mitted crimes  which  brought  them  upon  the  court  records, 
and  most  of  them  were  idiots,  drunkards,  lunatics,  paupers, 
or  prostitutes."  So  much  may  depend  upon  a  single  in- 
dividual. One  child's  life  started  wrong  set  in  motion  this 
fearful  criminal  train.  What  if  one  of  us  may  start  on  the 
right  line  a  girl  who  otherwise  would  be  a  second  Margaret? 
Would  it  not  be  worth  the  work  of  a  lifetime  ? 

Many  men  are  pure  and  upright  through  no  effort  of 
their  own  ;  it  is  natural  for  them  to  be  so.  Many  men  are 
poor  and  dependent,  some  are  degraded,  and  others  are 
vicious,  who  would  not  have  been  so  with  different  ancestry. 
Dr.  Holmes  is  right :  you  must  begin  to  train  the  child  of 
2094  to-day. 

Misfortune  is  another  cause  of  poverty  that  must  ex- 
cite our  pity.  The  illness  or  death  of  a  parent  or  a  child 
has  thrown  many  a  self-reliant  family  upon  the  charity  of 
the  world.  Its  little  income  ceases,  the  small  bank-ac- 
count is  exhausted,  and  poverty  takes  the  place  of  inde- 


200  THE   CHURCH 

pendence.  Well-to-do  families  have  suddenly  become  de- 
pendent through  investments  that  did  not  prosper,  through 
faithless  friends,  or  through  the  rascality  of  some  one  of 
their  own  members. 

Much  of  the  poverty  is  due  to  circumstances  beyond  the 
control  of  those  who  suffer.  Competition  is  the  curse  of  the 
poor.  We  demand  that  we  shall  have  cheap  living,  cheap 
clothing,  cheap  furniture,  cheap  hats — everything  must  be 
as  cheap  as  possible.  The  merchant,  to  secure  our  trade, 
buys  of  a  manufacturer  who  will  sell  for  a  penny  less  than 
the  one  from  whom  he  had  purchased  before.  That  penny 
must  be  saved,  and  the  man  who  makes  the  garment  gets  a 
penny  less  and  sometimes  two ;  for  "  business  is  business." 
A  cent  on  one  article,  or  five  cents  on  one  article,  for  that 
matter,  does  not  make  much  difference  to  you  or  me ;  but 
a  single  cent  on  every  one  of  a  hundred  articles  made  by 
the  poor  man  in  the  tenement-house  or  in  the  crowded  shop 
means  a  great  deal  to  him,  especially  when  work  is  slack 
and  there  are  thousands  of  competitors.  A  single  element 
in  this  race  for  greed  is  that,  while  the  consumer  pays  less 
for  his  clothing  and  the  workman  has  received  less  for  his 
labor,  no  one  has  thought  of  reducing  the  rent  of  tenement- 
houses.  Recent  investigation  has  shown  conclusively  that 
in  a  district  containing  the  most  congested  portion  of  the 
world's  population  the  poorest  tenement  rooms  are  more 
expensive,  when  space  is  considered,  than  the  costly  apart- 
ments in  the  large  houses  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city. 

The  homes  of  the  poor.  To  walk  through  some  of  the 
tenement  streets  one  longs  to  do  one  of  two  things :  tear 
down  the  buildings  or  compel  their  owners  to  live  in  them 
at  least  one  day  in  the  year.  With  bad  plumbing,  filthy 
yards,  and  barrels  of  refuse  in  the  cellars,  it  would  be  pretty 
difficult  for  you  and  me  to  attain  a  very  high  degree  of 
spirituality.     Can  we  expect  it  from  those  doomed  to  this 


AND  THE  CITY  PROBLEM  201 

environment  ?  One  evening,  in  a  pastoral  call,  less  than 
three  hundred  feet  from  our  chapel,  as  I  knocked,  the 
mother  opened  the  door  and  said  through  the  darkness, 
"Are  you  the  plumber  ?"  As  I  was  only  a  minister  my 
visit  was  not  so  much  appreciated  as  it  would  have  been  if 
I  had  been  a  minister  and  a  plumber.  The  mother  showed 
me  a  sink  filled  with  refuse,  due  to  a  broken  pipe.  Three 
or  four  times  within  as  many  days  she  had  gone  to  the  agent 
of  the  house  and  urged  him  to  have  the  pipes  mended.  I 
did  not  leave  any  tract  there,  nor  did  I  offer  a  prayer 
aloud.  I  did  not  quite  dare  to  do  so,  for  while  talking  to 
the  mother  a  full  pail  of  slops  from  the  upper  floors  came 
into  the  sink.  With  her  little  children  clinging  to  her  dress 
or  playing  on  the  floor,  the  patient  woman  dipped  out  the 
dirty  water  without  a  word.  I  have  in  mind  another  house 
where,  a  few  weeks  ago,  through  a  similar  cause,  one  child 
died  from  diphtheria,  and  the  family  moved  carrying  a 
second  child  suffering  from  the  same  disease,  into  a  better 
tenement-house,  thereby  exposing  the  new  household  to 
diphtheria.  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  in  some  of  these 
families  the  clothing  displayed  so  beautifully  in  Broadway 
stores  was  being  made  at  that  time.  Suppose  the  landlord's 
son  should  buy  a  suit,  and  the  disease  should  be  carried 
from  the  tenement  to  the  mansion,  who  would  be  guilty  of 
murder  ? 

II.  HOW  THE  CHURCH  TREATS  THE  CITY  PROBLEM. 

What  is  the  church  doing  with  the  problem  of  the  city  ? 
Studying  it  as  never  before ;  trying  honestly,  in  the  fear  of 
her  Master,  to  better  the  conditions  of  the  laboring  peo- 
ple; sending  many  of  her  noblest  sons  and  most  conse- 
crated daughters  into  the  neglected  field  as  volunteer  work- 
ers ;  pouring  out  her  treasures  in  funds  of  various  kinds 


2o2  THE   CHURCH 

for  alleviating  the  distress  found  in  the  tenement  districts ; 
starting  free  kindergartens,  in  order  to  shape  the  twig  while 
it  is  yet  tender ;  providing  for  the  safety  of  young  men  and 
young  women  by  clubs  under  the  care  of  the  church ;  and 
in  various  ways  showing  practical  sympathy  for  those  who 
need  friends  more  than  they  need  alms.  In  rescue  mis- 
sions, in  mission-schools,  and  in  chapels  and  churches  once 
prosperous,  you  will  find  every  week  hundreds  of  earnest 
Christians  working,  on  Sunday  and  week-day  alike,  for  those 
who  are  not  always  so  grateful  as  one  could  wish.  Ladies 
whom  you  would  expect  to  meet  at  a  reception  in  an  up- 
town parlor,  you  will  find  in  a  humble  home  planning  a  va- 
cation trip  for  the  mother  and  babe ;  one  may  be  carrying 
the  information  that  she  has  secured  a  position  for  the  eldest 
boy  in  the  store  where  she  does  her  purchasing. 

"  The  superintendent  would  not  see  John  or  his  mother," 
she  tells  you,  "  but  he  seemed  pleased  to  grant  my  request." 
Her  wish  was  that  this  poor  boy  should  get  work.  God 
bless  those  who  "  consider  the  poor  "!  It  is  easier  to  feed 
them,  but  the  blessing  goes  with  the  "  considering." 

The  church  is  supporting  many  chapels  and  missions 
among  the  poor  in  addition  to  the  voluntary  work  of  which 
I  have  spoken,  and  in  addition,  also,  to  the  large  amount 
spent  for  charity — between  nine  and  ten  millions  of  dol- 
lars annually — much  of  which  comes  from  Christian  people. 
One  church  of  which  I  know  gives  $6000  a  year  to  support 
its  two  chapels.  Another  contributes  $8000  to  a  single 
chapel.  The  pastor  of  a  third  church  asks  his  people  on 
Sabbath  morning  for  $13,000  for  the  three  chapels  for  which 
they  are  directly  responsible,  and  that  amount  is  found  upon 
the  plates.  Should  he  ask  for  $50,000  for  the  same  purpose 
it  would  be  given  as  freely.  A  society  with  nine  missions 
and  churches  under  its  care  spent  last  year  about  $60,000 
for  city  mission  work,  employing,  besides  its  pastors,  sev- 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  203 

eral  workers  among  the  Germans,  Italians,  and  Jews,  and 
more  than  forty  experienced  trained  nurses  and  mission- 
aries. The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  several  mod- 
ern buildings  in  which  the  life  that  now  is  is  not  forgotten 
while  providing  for  the  life  to  come.  The  Collegiate  Church 
and  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Methodist  Church  and 
the  Baptist  Church,  and  the  Congregational  churches  and 
other  religious  bodies,  are  working  along  institutional  lines 
to  some  extent. 

Nor  must  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Associations  be   omitted.     The  value  of  the  distinc- 
tively religious  work  in  the  main  building  and  the  branches 
is  scarcely  greater  than  that  afforded  in  their  class-rooms, 
libraries,  gymnasiums,  labor  bureaus,  lecture  courses,  etc. 
For  many  thousands  of  young  people  they  take  the  place 
of  church,  club,  and  home.    The  Hebrew  Institute  in  East 
Broadway  reaches  weekly  twenty-five  thousand  people,  who 
go  there  for  instruction  and  enjoyment.     The  rescue  mis- 
sion work,  like  the  McAuley  Mission,  the  Florence  Mission, 
the  Door  of  Hope,  the  Industrial  Christian  Alliance,  the 
Cremorne  Mission,  the  Slum  Brigade  of  the  Salvation  Army, 
St.  Bartholomew's  Mission,  the  Metropolitan  Meetings  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Yatman— this  class  of  work  deserves  a  lec- 
ture by  itself,  for  to  my  mind  it  is  the  most  difficult  and 
discouraging   form   of  religious   work  in   the   world.     So 
many  of  the  "  rescued  "  men  and  women  have  to  be  saved 
so  often,  that  it  requires  a  faith  that  can  actually  remove 
mountains  to  stand  the  frequent  shocks  that  come  to  the 

workers. 

A  member  of  my  church  was  for  many  years  a  drinking 
man,  and  even  now,  though  I  believe  him  to  be  an  earnest 
Christian,  he  sometimes  falls  under  the  temptation  of  drink, 
and  then  he  is  a  devil  incarnate.  At  such  times  he  cares, 
apparently,  for  no  one  except  his  pastor.     An  indulgent 


204  THE   CHURCH 

father  naturally,  wife,  children,  and  friends  are  made  the 
special  subjects  of  his  insane  temper  when  he  is  drinking. 
They  may  starve,  and  they  often  are  in  a  starving  condition 
when  I  find  them.  Then  comes  the  talk  with  the  father 
and  comfort  for  the  family,  and  a  prayer,  and  penitence 
and  reconciliation,  and,  for  six  months  or  a  year,  reforma- 
tion. Generally  the  sad  times  end,  as  one  did  last  winter, 
by  the  weak  Christian  brother  saying,  "  Mr.  Devins,  you 
hold  on  to  me  and  I  will  hold  on  to  you,  and  we  will  stand 
together."  Besides  the  arm  of  Omnipotence,  on  which  he 
leans  by  faith,  he  needs  a  human  arm  which  he  can  feel 
about  him  constantly. 

What  is  the  church  doing  to  solve  the  problem  of  the 
poor  ?  Did  your  little  daughter  ever  meet  you  at  night 
and  say,  with  a  shout  of  exultation,  "  Papa,  I  went  bathing 
in  the  surf  to-day  "  ?  You  congratulate  her  upon  her  splen- 
did daring,  and  she  receives  it  with  as  much  complacency 
as  if  you  did  not  know  that  all  she  means  is  this :  She  had 
her  little  dress  pinned  about  her  waist,  and  with  bare  feet 
she  pattered  down  toward  the  surf  as  brave  as  a  man,  till 
she  saw  a  long  breaker  just  beginning  to  dash  into  foam 
far  out  beyond  the  life-lines.  Then  her  bravery  oozed  out 
rapidly,  and  she  started  up  the  hill  faster  than  she  started 
down.  As  the  wave  receded  her  courage  rose,  and  so  she 
played  with  the  mighty  ocean  stretching  out  before  her. 
Now  and  then,  in  spite  of  her  agility,  a  spent  wave  flowed 
over  her  tiny  feet,  and  she  tells  you,  with  something  of 
truthfulness,  that  she  has  been  surf-bathing. 

The  church  is  solving  the  problem  of  the  city  in  about 
the  same  manner  that  your  little  daughter  battled  with  the 
surf.  Without  taking  back  a  word  of  all  that  has  been  said 
regarding  the  men  and  the  money  engaged  in  city  mission- 
ary work,  we  are  reaching  the  masses  only  on  paper.  In- 
dividuals in  many   churches   are    doing  yeoman    service, 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  205 

but  individuals  are  units.  A  half-million  people  live  below 
Fourteenth  Street  and  east  of  Broadway.  The  Congrega- 
tionalists  have  one  small  Welsh  congregation  and  one  mis- 
sion-chapel in  that  district,  and  not  another  church  within 
a  mile  of  it.  The  Baptists  let  one  of  their  noble  men  die 
at  the  foot  of  the  Bowery.  Pleading  for  money,  pleading 
for  helpers,  the  brave  worker  went  to  his  grave.  But  his 
death  was  not  in  vain.  A  splendid  work  has  sprung  up 
where  he  labored  so  faithfully  amid  great  discouragements. 
The  Methodist  Church  has  supported  liberally  the  great 
meetings  in  the  Academy  of  Music  and  in  Metropolitan 
Hall ;  but  the  denomination  which  pours  out  its  wealth  so 
lavishly  in  this  way  is  not  equally  generous  in  the  support 
of  its  churches  among  the  poor.  I  know  a  Methodist  pas- 
tor in  New  York  who  received  last  year  the  munificent  sal- 
ary of  $750  ;  and  out  of  that  he  paid  a  missionary  to  assist 
him  in  relieving  the  poor  and  the  distressed  that  crowded 
about  his  doors.  God  pity  those  who  let  this  heroic,  un- 
complaining servant  stand  in  the  breach  with  such  support ! 
And  as  for  the  Presbyterian  Church — here  you  have  the 
child  at  her  surf-bathing.  Two  years  ago  a  committee  of 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  appointed  to  investigate  the 
spiritual  needs  of  the  city,  made  this  report  regarding  the 
down-town  districts :  "  The  region,  with  its  third  of  a  million 
of  mostly  foreign  population,  is  genuinely  foreign  mission- 
ary ground,  where  methods  well  adapted  to  or  even  moder- 
ately successful  in  other  localities  are  likely  to  prove  of  lit- 
tle service.  Just  as  soon  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  finds 
itself  in  honest  shape  once  more,  occupying  buildings  that 
are  paid  for,  its  duty  toward  this  district  will  be  imperative. 
This  will  be  its  first  duty  in  the  direction  of  missionary  work." 
Within  two  months  after  the  reading  of  that  report  two  lead- 
ing Presbyterian  churches — one  of  them  almost  the  strong- 
est, financially,  in  the  denomination — gave  notice  that  they 


206  THE   CHURCH 

would  soon  move  up-town.  One  is  now  three  miles  and  the 
other  four  miles  farther  away  from  this  missionary  region 
than  they  were  when  the  report  was  read ;  and  since  that 
time  the  Presbyterians  have  decided  to  sell  another  church 
building.  Before  the  incoming  tide  of  immigration  our 
church  is  receding  rapidly,  leaving  chapels  and  missions 
to  take  the  place  of  the  churches  which  have  followed  and 
sometimes  led  the  up-town  movement ;  for  people  move  up- 
town to  be  near  their  church  quite  as  often  as  the  church 
goes  to  be  near  its  people. 

III.   WHAT  SHOULD  THE   CHURCH  DO  WITH  THE   PROBLEM? 

Let  her  first  read  again  what  Professor  Drummond  has 
so  happily  termed  "  the  program  of  Christianity."  In  the 
Nazareth  synagogue  the  Master  said :  "  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recover- 
ing of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

Having  studied  anew  this  program,  the  church  must 
"  follow  Christ."  He  might  have  sat  in  his  cheerful  home, 
or  in  the  Nazareth  synagogue  even,  and  invited  all  who 
desired  his  help  or  his  teaching  to  come  where  he  was ; 
or  he  might  have  erected  a  church — the  Church  of  the 
Messiah,  if  you  please — on  the  leading  avenue  of  Jerusa- 
lem, announcing  in  the  morning  papers  the  hours  of  ser- 
vice, and  had  a  sufficient  number  of  ushers  present  on  Sab- 
bath morning  to  see  that  the  pewholders  were  seated  before 
he  began  his  sermon  on  "  Love  " — love  to  God  and  love 
to  fellow-men.  But  this  was  not  his  way.  It  would  not 
seem  as  though  the  representatives  of  the  Christ  would  find 
the  Master  by  walking  in  that  direction. 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  207 

The  church  has  many  representatives  at  work  among  the 
people,  so  called.  This  number  must  be  vastly  increased 
before  the  problem  can  be  solved.  A  regiment  from  the 
Bay  State  marched  proudly  down  Broadway  thirty-two 
years  ago.  Every  soldier  bore  evidence  of  an  ancestry 
that  knew  no  defeat.  Puritan  principle  and  Puritan  pluck 
were  seen  on  every  countenance. 

"  How  often  can  your  State  send  out  such  a  regiment  ?" 
asked  a  New-Yorker. 

"  Once  a  week  for  months  to  come,"  was  the  proud 
answer,  "  and,"  the  officer  added,  "  if  we  cannot  put  down 
the  rebellion,  Massachusetts  herself  will  step  to  the  front." 
We  have  many  soldiers  of  the  cross  in  the  field  to-day,  but 
the  church  as  an  institution  is  marching  to  Canaan's  happy 
land  too  frequently  through  Harlem,  Brooklyn,  and  New 
Jersey.  American  independence  dates  from  1776  ;  but  be- 
tween the  signing  of  the  Declaration,  on  July  4th  of  that 
year,  and  the  evacuation  of  New  York  by  the  British,  on 
November  25,  1783,  there  was  a  great  deal  of  practical 
cooperation,  and  you  will  recall  that  the  severest  battles 
were  fought  at  the  front.  The  church  of  Christ  must  do 
all  that  she  is  doing  now,  and  as  much  more  as  possible, 
and  still  remember  that 

"  It  is  not  the  things  we  have  done  here, 
But  the  things  we  have  left  undone, 
That  will  give  us  the  bitter  heartache 
At  the  setting  of  the  sun." 

The  church  must  study  the  changed  conditions  of  the 
city.  Across  the  street  from  our  chapel  stands  a  double 
tenement-house  where  three  private  houses  were  four  years 
ago.  Forty-four  families  live  to-day  where  there  were 
three  or  four  then.  A  saloon  has  been  opened  in  the  same 
block  where  there  was  a  grocery  three  years  ago.    Next  to 


208  THE   CHURCH 

the  saloon  there  is  a  large  garment  factory  with  a  stable  or 
two  on  the  lower  floors.  The  street  has  changed  in  char- 
acter quite  as  much  as  in  appearance  during  that  time. 

The  church  must  study  the  various  questions  that  inter- 
est the  poor,  not  so  much  from  the  church's  point  of  view 
as  from  the  people's  point  of  view.  Take  the  temperance 
question.  The  other  night  I  distributed  invitations  to  a  tem- 
perance meeting  in  our  chapel  to  the  customers  in  twenty- 
five  of  the  one  hundred  and  seventy  saloons  within  twelve 
hundred  feet  of  our  home.  Many  of  my  people  see  more 
harm  in  the  coffee  which  their  pastor  drinks  at  the  midday 
meal  than  in  the  beer  which  they  drink  at  the  same  time. 
He  does  not  consider  it  a  sin  to  drink  the  coffee,  nor  do 
they  to  drink  the  beer.  They  think  that  I  waste  money  in 
buying  a  quart  of  ice-cream.  Their  pail  of  beer  is  to  them 
not  a  luxury,  not  even  a  stimulant,  but,  from  their  point  of 
view,  an  article  of  food — a  necessity.  When  the  church 
has  studied  the  temperance  question  from  its  several 
points  of  view,  then  her  representatives  must  unite  in  some 
practical  method  of  fighting  the  evil.  It  may  not  be  your 
method  nor  mine  which  will  be  adopted.  Theories,  reso- 
lutions, platforms,  will  not  kill  the  saloon.  After  the  study 
of  the  question  there  must  be  cooperation. 

Or  take  the  labor  problem.  The  church  of  the  Galilean 
carpenter  is  the  working-man's  best  friend.  She  should  be, 
and  he  should  know  it.  Too  often  I  fear  that  he  looks 
upon  the  church  as  a  club,  where  one  negative  vote  black- 
balls ;  and  he  is  afraid  that  his  rough  hands  and  his  plain 
clothing  and  his  untaught  manners  will  lead  some  one  to 
cast  the  negative  vote,  and  he  hates  to  run  the  risk :  so 
would  you  and  so  would  I.  Or  he  looks  upon  the  church 
as  a  vestibuled  train  of  sleeping-cars  upon  which  only  the 
"  classes  "  may  travel. 

"  Out  of  work,  is  that  all  ?  "  said  a  friend  the  other  day, 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  209 

in  speaking  of  a  neighbor  of  ours.  Is  that  all  ?  What 
worse  evil  could  one  wish  for  his  bitterest  foe  ?  Out  of 
work!  The  father  comes  home  at  night  weary,  hungry, 
foot-sore,  discouraged.  The  little  money  laid  aside  for  rent 
goes  for  food.  Work  is  promised  soon.  The  month  closes 
— nothing  yet.  But  hope  is  not  gone.  The  agent  demands 
the  rent.  "  Pay  up  or  move  out,"  says  he,  in  answer  to 
the  prayer  of  the  wife  for  a  few  days'  delay ;  and  the  little 
bank-account  is  soon  exhausted,  and  still  no  work.  And 
finally,  when  evening  shades  will  partly  conceal  her  move- 
ments, the  mother  steals  away  to  a  pawnshop  and  exchanges 
some  jewel  dearly  prized  for  a  few  cents  with  which  to 
buy  bread  for  her  crying  children.  The  clock  follows  the 
jewelry,  and  the  clothing  the  timepiece,  and  frequently  the 
clothing  from  the  bed  on  which  the  parents  sleep.  The 
children's  bed  is  the  last  to  go — and  yet  no  work.  Were 
you  ever  hungry  ?  Were  you  ever  out  of  work  ?  Did 
you  ever  walk  the  streets  looking  for  it,  willing  to  do  any- 
thing ?  I  know  something  of  the  experience  which  I  am 
suggesting:  the  sense  of  loneliness;  the  feeling  that  with 
so  much  to  do  in  the  city  there  must  be  a  place  for  you ; 
the  feeling  of  inequality,  of  injustice.  God  pity  those  who 
are  willing  to  work,  but  cannot  find  one  willing  to  hire 
them! 

One  of  the  bright  little  German  girls  in  our  chapel,  ten 
years  old,  said  to  Mrs.  Devins  the  other  day :  "  My  papa 
walks  all  day  every  day  looking  for  work.  Yesterday  he 
walked  clear  up  to  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Street  and 
back  [fifteen  miles],  and  after  all  there  was  no  work.  He 
has  been  in  every  coal-yard  and  stone-yard  and  every  fac- 
tory that  he  can  hear  of  in  all  the  city.  Sometimes  I  go 
with  him  and  talk  for  him ;  and  last  week  he  and  I  walked 
forty-six  blocks  up  and  forty-six  blocks  back,  and  I  was 
that  tired  before  I  got  back  that  I  had  to  sit  down  on  every 


210  THE   CHURCH 

curbstone  to  get  strength  to  walk  to  the  next.  Oh,  my  feet 
ached !  and  I  cried  when  I  got  home,  I  was  so  tired.  This 
morning  mama  had  only  six  cents  in  the  house,  and  papa 
heard  that  perhaps  he  could  get  work  over  the  ferry ;  so 
she  gave  him  that  six  cents  to  ride  over  the  ferry,  and  then 
there  was  no  work  after  all,  and  mama  cried.  I  wish  my 
papa  could  get  some  work.  He  tries  so  hard  all  the  time, 
Mrs.  Devins."  The  first  thing  we  did  with  little  Hannah 
and  her  brother  Bethel  was  to  send  them  through  the  Trib- 
une Fund  to  the  ideal  summer  home  for  city  children,  at 
Curtisville,  Mass.,  supported  so  generously  by  Mr.  John  E. 
Parsons,  of  New  York.  When  more  men  of  wealth  realize 
that  they  are  trustees  rather  than  owners  of  the  property 
which  they  hold,  the  question  of  capital  and  labor  will  not 
be  raised  so  frequently  as  it  is  now.  Having  secured  an 
outing  for  the  children,  we  tried  to  get  work  for  the  father. 
It  is  work,  and  not  money,  that  this  family  and  thousands 
of  other  families  need. 

When  it  was  found,  last  winter,  by  the  police  census 
that  there  were  seventy  thousand  unemployed  men  in  New 
York,  a  committee,  representing  various  churches  and  be- 
nevolent societies,  was  organized  to  help  a  few  of  them  by 
giving  them  work.  A  dollar  a  day  was  paid  to  those  sweep- 
ing the  streets  and  renovating  the  tenement-houses,  and 
seventy-five  cents  a  day  was  given  to  the  tailors.  The 
efficient  chairman  of  the  East  Side  Relief  Work  Commit- 
tee was  Mrs.  Charles  Russell  Lowell,  of  the  Charity  Organ- 
ization Society,  a  woman  of  rare  judgment,  and  indefati- 
gable in  her  work  among  the  poor.  The  College  Settlement, 
the  University  Settlement,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the 
Hebrew  Institute,  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  the  City 
Mission  Society  (undenominational),  the  Brotherhood  of 
St.  Andrew,  a  Presbyterian  chapel,  and,  later,  a  Unitarian 
church  and  a  Congregational  church  were  represented  on 
the  committee.     Tickets  were  sent  to   all  the  churches, 


AND   THE  CITY  PROBLEM  211 

societies,  and  labor  organizations  in  the  neighborhood.  In 
five  months  $125,000  was  spent  in  the  relief  of  the  unem- 
ployed. Not  a  dollar  was  given  in  direct  relief — every 
penny  was  earned.  We  employed  five  thousand  heads  of 
families.  Hundreds  of  the  vilest  tenement-house  cellars 
were  cleaned,  and  nearly  four  thousand  barrels  of  refuse 
were  carted  away.  Three  thousand  halls,  cellars,  and  rooms 
were  whitewashed  and  scrubbed.  Almost  the  entire  East 
Side  of  the  city  from  the  Bridge  to  the  Harlem  River  was 
swept  daily.  Quantities  of  clothing  were  made  and  dis- 
tributed among  the  cyclone  sufferers  of  South  Carolina 
and  the  destitute  of  New  York.  The  central  work  of  the 
committee  was  carried  on  at  the  rooms  of  the  College  Set- 
tlement in  Rivington  Street. 

Hope  Chapel  was  made  the  center  of  the  sanitation 
work,  and  branches  of  the  street-sweeping  and  sewing  de- 
partments were  established  there,  $40,000  of  the  relief  fund 
passed  through  our  hands.  Seventeen  hours  a  day  were 
given  to  this  work  for  five  months.  The  tales  of  suffering 
which  were  poured  into  my  ears — many  of  which  I  investi- 
gated and  found  to  be  true — I  would  not  dare  to  tell  you. 
More  than  one  of  the  men  whom  we  employed  said  that 
he  thanked  God  for  the  hard  times,  for,  while  he  had  suf- 
fered severely,  he  had  found  that  the  church  really  loved 
him  and  cared  for  his  family.  Cain's  question,  "Am  I 
my  brother's  keeper?  "  is  not  heard  much  now.  It  should 
never  rise  to  the  lips  of  those  who  say  "  Our  Father." 

"  Say  not,  '  It  matters  not  to  me, 

My  brother's  weal  is  his  behoof ; ' 
For  in  this  wondrous  human  web, 
If  your  life's  warp,  his  life  is  woof. 

"  Woven  together  are  the  threads, 
And  you  and  he  are  in  one  loom ; 
For  good  or  ill,  for  glad  or  sad, 

Your  lives  must  share  one  common  doom." 


212  THE   CHURCH 

When  the  relief  fund  was  exhausted  the  need  was  by  no 
means  at  an  end,  and  some  of  the  workers  formed  a  perma- 
nent organization,  which  has  been  incorporated  as  the  New 
York  Employment  Society,  and  is  virtually  an  employment 
agency,  free  to  employer  and  employee.  Among  the  direc- 
tors are  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  a  Congrega- 
tionalism a  Unitarian,  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  a  Hebrew. 
This,  Mr.  President,  we  believe  to  be  a  long  step  toward 
Christian  unity.  It  is  not  unity  on  paper — it  is  practical 
unity  backed  by  bank-checks.  Besides  investigating  the 
references  and  the  moral  character  of  some  fifteen  hundred 
men  who  have  applied  for  positions  in  six  weeks,  we  have 
secured  positions  for  about  two  hundred  men.  We  have 
sent  some  men  out  of  town,  and  as  rapidly  as  possible  we 
shall  extend  this  branch  of  our  work ;  and  we  invite  the 
cooperation  of  all  those  who  can  help  us.  The  church 
must  do  more  than  feel  sorry  for  the  laboring  man ;  she 
must  help  him.  Mrs.  Browning  says  somewhere,  "  Most 
people  are  kind,  if  they  only  think  of  it."  "To  sympa- 
thize with  distress,"  said  Horace  Mann,  "is  human;  to  re- 
lieve distress  is  godlike." 

Another  phase  of  practical  cooperation  is  the  plan 
adopted  by  the  Federation  of  East  Side  Workers.  Here 
again  Protestants,  Catholics,  and  Hebrews  are  found  will- 
ing to  forget  their  "  ism  "  for  the  time  and  unite  upon  what 
they  can  agree  upon.  We  learned  last  winter,  in  working 
for  the  poor,  that  there  were  many  phases  of  work  where 
cooperation  was  possible.  The  Protestant  learned,  also, 
that  his  Roman  Catholic  brother  had  a  heart  for  the  suffer- 
ing poor  in  New  York,  whatever  he  might  think  of  the 
papal  authority  of  Rome.  The  Roman  Catholic  found 
that  his  Protestant  brother,  like  the  Master  of  them  both, 
goes  about  doing  good,  whether  Luther's  theses  were  right 
or  wrong.     The  Jew  saw  that  the  Christian  considers  the 


AND  THE  CITY  PROBLEM  213 

poor  as  well  as  he.  The  Christian  discovered  that  no  race 
on  earth  exceeds  that  of  the  Hebrew  in  giving  aid  to  the 
destitute.  Catholic  and  Jew,  Christian  and  agnostic,  found 
that  none  of  the  others  had  divided  hoofs. 

The  object  of  the  new  Federation  is  to  increase  the  effi- 
ciency of  benevolent  work  among  the  half-million  of  people 
living  below  Fourteenth  Street  and  east  of  Broadway.  No 
new  relief-giving  society  was  needed,  but  brotherly  feeling, 
practical  federation,  a  united  front — this  is  what  the  world 
has  a  right  to  expect  from  those  who  are  laboring  there, 
especially  in  the  humane  work  in  which  the  churches  and 
philanthropic  societies  are  alike  engaged.  Every  phase 
of  life  will  be  carefully  studied,  and  the  evils  found  will  be 
corrected  so  far  as  possible.  Lectures  will  be  given  on 
practical  topics,  such  as  the  care  of  the  home,  the  training 
of  children,  the  rights  and  duties  of  citizens,  the  relation  of 
capital  and  labor,  the  question  of  wages,  rent,  improved 
dwellings,  temperance,  etc.  The  tenement-house  problem, 
existing  sanitation  laws,  public  baths,  small  parks,  etc.,  will 
receive  the  attention  of  the  committee.  While  the  imme- 
diate needs  of  the  people  in  distress  will  not  be  over- 
looked, self-help  rather  than  direct  relief  will  be  the  goal. 

What  may  the  church  do  to  solve  the  problems  of  modern 
society  ?  First,  study  the  problems  on  the  ground,  recog- 
nizing the  changed  conditions  of  the  people  ;  and  then  carry 
help,  temporal  and  spiritual,  where  it  is  needed.  Professor 
Graham  Taylor  said  recently  that  Chicago  needed  a  hun- 
dred missionaries.  "  New  York,"  said  that  prince  of  men, 
Howard  Crosby,  a  few  weeks  before  his  death — "  New 
York  will  be  evangelized  when  every  Christian  becomes  an 
evangelist."  The  church  will  solve  her  knotty  problems 
when  her  representatives,  regardless  of  ecclesiastical  con- 
nections, set  themselves  to  the  task,  willing  to  learn,  will- 
ing to  cooperate. 


2i4  THE  CHURCH 

When  Napoleon  asked  for  one  hundred  men  to  lead  a 
forlorn  hope  he  explained  that  every  man  would  probably 
be  killed  the  moment  the  enemy  opened  fire.  Now  who 
would  die  for  the  emperor?  "A  hundred  men  forward! 
Step  out  of  the  ranks !  "  And  not  a  hundred  men,  but  the 
whole  regiment,  we  are  told,  as  one  man,  sprang  forward 
in  solid  line  and  rang  their  muskets  at  the  feet  of  the  em- 
peror. 

You  will  pardon  me,  Mr.  President,  for  referring  to  your 
family ;  but  I  believe  that  the  noble,  consecrated  life  which 
Miss  Bradford,  the  cultured  sister  of  our  honored  president, 
is  giving  to  the  poor  in  Jersey  City  is  worth  more  to  the 
people  who  come  under  her  refining  influences  than  bags  of 
gold  would  be  to  them.  The  uplifting  power  of  the  Whit- 
tier  Home,  instituted  and  sustained,  in  part,  if  not  wholly, 
by  this  earnest  Christian  woman,  is  one  of  the  strongest 
arguments  for  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  found  in 
that  city.  Miss  Bradford  is  good,  she  does  good,  she  goes 
about  doing  good.  A  hundred  equally  consecrated  women 
should  offer  her  their  services.  And  what  Miss  Bradford  is 
doing  in  Jersey  City  the  College  Settlement  women  in  Riv- 
ington  Street,  and  the  Tenement-house  Chapter  of  King's 
Daughters  in  Madison  Street,  and  the  University  Settle- 
ment men  in  Delancey  Street,  and  many  other  circles  and 
bands  and  societies  and  individuals  are  doing  in  New  York. 
Their  aim  is  to  share  their  lives  with  the  people,  to  follow 
the  Christ  as  they  come  in  contact  with  human  men  and 
women  and  children  longing  not  for  alms,  but  for  unselfish 
friendship. 

But  there  are  those  who  think  that  the  church  of  Christ, 
as  a  church,  and  individual  members  representing  the 
church,  as  an  institution,  should  do  this  very  work.  In 
something  of  this  spirit  is  Dr.  Judson's  splendid  enterprise 
in  Washington  Square,  which  has  been  called  "  a  college  set- 


AND  THE  CITY  PROBLEM  21$ 

tlement  plus  religion."  Dr.  Judson  says:  "  God  wants  his 
church  to  be  the  center  of  spiritual  and  intellectual  activity, 
the  seat  of  aggressive  and  philanthropic  enterprise,  the  ideals 
and  teachings  of  Christ  translated  into  a  definite  social 
organ."  There  is  a  danger  lest  these  outside  agencies, 
unless  bound  to  the  church  in  some  way,  will  become  for- 
midable rivals  and  not  helpful  allies.  But,  at  any  rate, 
they  have  already  served  a  grand  purpose  in  calling  our  at- 
tention to  the  need  of  personal  work  and  in  showing  its 
beneficent  results. 

Finally,  the  church  must  solve  her  problems  by  reaching 
the  people  as  individuals.  This  was  the  Master's  method. 
Andrew  hears  John's  words  about  the  Christ;  he  follows 
Jesus  and  brings  Peter  to  the  Saviour.  Philip,  imbibing 
the  spirit  of  the  Master,  brings  Nathanael  under  the  same 
blessed  influence.  Every  church,  every  chapel,  every  mis- 
sion, every  humane  agency,  needs  its  Andrews  and  its 
Philips  to-day.  The  prayer  of  Holmes  may  well  be  ours 
to-day  : 

"  God  give  us  men.     A  time  like  this  demands 
Great  hearts,  strong  minds,  true  faith,  and  willing  hands." 

What  an  opportunity  for  personal  service  every  Christian 
has  in  helping  to  solve  the  problems  before  the  church !  An 
individual  is  only  a  unit ;  but  one  man  may  do  so  much, 
and  one  woman  may  do  so  much,  when  the  Christ  life  rules 
and  the  Christ  spirit  is  manifested  among  the  lowly! 

During  those  memorable  days  in  1863  when  New  York 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  draft-rioters  it  is  said  that  a  mob 
of  lawless  men  and  boys  was  headed  by  one  of  the  most 
daring  and  godless  of  the  six  or  eight  thousand  that  had 
gathered  by  the  time  Madison  Square  was  reached.  The 
yelling,  hooting  crowd  had  for  its  objective  point  the  house 
of  a  prominent  man  on  Murray  Hill.    As  the  mob  reached 


216  THE   CHURCH 

the  house  the  leader  rushed  up  to  the  door.  Hardly  had 
he  reached  the  steps  when  the  door  swung  open,  and  a  lady 
greeted  him  with  a  smile  and  asked  how  she  could  serve 
him.  For  an  instant  they  faced  each  other — the  desper- 
ate man  with  murder  in  his  heart,  the  woman  as  gentle  as 
an  angel,  her  beautiful  face  an  index  of  the  Christlike  spirit 
within. 

For  an  instant  only  they  faced  each  other.  Not  a  word 
was  exchanged.  The  leader  turned  to  his  followers,  drew 
his  revolver,  and  said  deliberately,  "  The  first  man  whose 
foot  touches  these  steps  dies.  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for 
this  lady  and  her  home.  Wheel,  forward,  march!"  When 
the  astonished  crowd  deemed  it  wise  they  asked  their  leader 
what  had  changed  his  plans.     This  was  his  reply : 

"  When  the  door  opened  I  recognized  in  that  lady  whom 
you  saw  one  who  had  visited  my  home  when  I  was  out  of 
work  last  winter.  My  wife  was  ill  and  the  children  were 
nearly  naked.  She  brought  food  and  clothing  for  my  chil- 
dren ;  she  brought  dainties  for  my  sick  wife,  prepared  by 
her  own  hand.  She  was  kind  to  me  when  I  was  in  trouble, 
and  secured  work  for  me." 

Here,  to  my  mind,  is  the  key  that  is  going  to  unlock 
the  Problem  of  the  City,  and  that  is  going  to  answer  the 
questions  how  to  reach  the  masses  and  how  to  fill  the 
churches  at  the  second  service.  When  the  rich  know  how 
the  poor  live  by  personal  observation,  and  the  poor  know 
how  the  rich  work,  the  chasm  between  the  "  masses  "  and 
the  "  classes  "  will  be  bridged ;  and  in  this  manifestation 
of  personal  Christianity  we  shall  be  exhibiting  the  spirit  of 
our  Master,  "  who  went  about  doing  good."  Shall  we  fol- 
low the  Christ  ? 


VIII 

THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN 

REV.  GEORGE  HODGES,  D.D., 
Dean  of  the  Episcopal  Theological  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


217 


VIII 

THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS   TO 
AN  EPISCOPALIAN 

As  it  appears  to  one  Episcopalian.  For  it  is  more  true 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  than  of  any  other  religious  com- 
munion with  which  I  am  acquainted,  that  it  is  made  up  of 
people  who  differ  one  from  another. 

Those  temperamental  distinctions  to  which  we  give  the 
easy  names  of  "  high  "  and  "  low  "  and  "  broad  "  belong  to 
our  universal  human  nature.  They  are  found  in  every  con- 
siderable company.  Some  there  are  always  whose  look  is 
up,  toward  God,  and  for  whom  the  largest  word  in  religion 
is  "  adoration  " ;  others  there  are  whose  look  is  in,  toward 
their  own  soul,  and  for  whom  the  essential  word  is  "  con- 
version " ;  and  others  still  are  to  be  found  whose  most  fre- 
quent look  is  out,  toward  their  neighbors,  and  for  whom 
the  emphatic  word  is  "ministration."  They  who  are  of 
the  first  sort  are  forever  trying  to  enrich  the  services ;  they 
who  are  of  the  second  sort  seek  appealing  sermons,  and 
delight  in  prayer-meetings ;  they  who  are  of  the  third  sort 
endeavor  to  approve  religious  truth  to  the  reason  of  men, 
and  to  apply  religious  precepts  to  the  bettering  of  present 
living. 

These  various  attitudes  are  discovered,  not  only  in  every 
congregation  of  Christians,  Roman  or  Protestant,  Unitarian 
or  Presbyterian,  but  are  found  more  or  less  developed  in 
every  good  Christian  individual.    It  is  plain,  however,  that 

219 


220  THE   REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

each  of  us  inclines  especially  in  one  or  other  of  these  direc- 
tions, rarely  holding  them  in  balance.  And  it  is  equally 
plain  that  different  religious  communions  belong,  upon  the 
whole,  to  one  or  other  of  these  elemental  parties.  Thus  the 
Roman  Catholic  communion  is  distinctly  "high  church"; 
the  Methodist  communion  is  distinctly  "  low  church  "  ;  the 
Unitarian  communion  is  distinctly  "  broad  church." 

But  among  Episcopalians  these  three  strains  of  religious 
character  are  so  blended  that  no  man  may  definitely  ap- 
ply to  this  church  any  one  of  these  descriptive  adjectives 
alone.  The  citizens  of  one  town,  judging  from  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Episcopal  parish  in  the  midst  of  them,  may 
say  that  the  Episcopal  Church  is  a  high  church ;  that  it  is 
devoted  to  forms  and  ceremonies ;  that  it  burns  candles  and 
waves  smoking  censers  ;  and  that  it  holds  that  the  ministers 
of  other  communions  are  but  intrusive  and  presumptuous 
laymen.  But  in  the  next  county  the  inhabitants  of  another 
town  may  argue  from  the  same  premises  and  reach  an  alto- 
gether different  conclusion :  they  may  say  that  the  Episco- 
pal Church  is  intent  upon  the  supreme  task  of  saving  souls ; 
that  the  revivals,  the  prayer-meetings,  and  the  inquiry- 
meetings  which  are  held  within  its  walls  bespeak  the  most 
vital  sort  of  evangelical  piety  ;  and  that  the  clergyman  walks 
with  his  ministerial  neighbors  of  other  names  as  brethren. 
Let  the  religious  reporter  ask  questions  about  the  Episco- 
pal Church  from  people  who  live  in  New  York  next  door 
to  the  church  of  which  Dr.  Rainsford  is  the  rector,  and 
next  door  to  the  church  of  which  Dr.  Heber  Newton  is 
the  rector,  and  next  door  to  the  church  whose  parish  priest 
is  Father  Brown,  and  let  him  compare  the  answers. 

The  fact  is  plain,  then,  that  while  in  any  church  it  is  im- 
possible for  anybody  to  represent  everybody,  in  the  Episco- 
pal Church  the  idea  of  such  a  general  representation  is  not 
only  idle,  but  absurd.     We  speak  each  for  himself.     The 


AS  IT  APPEARS    TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN         221 

harnessing  of  an  Eskimo  pack  illustrates  the  state  of  things  : 
each  dog  is  fastened  to  the  sled  separately.  They  all  pull, 
and  the  sled  goes  on,  but  each  one  pulls  in  his  own  way 
and  by  himself.  This  paper,  accordingly,  is  the  statement 
of  one  Episcopalian.  Another  Episcopalian  may  put  the 
case  quite  differently. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  this  unique  construction  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church  with  so  much  emphasis  not  only  for  the  sake 
of  denning  my  own  single  responsibility  for  the  views  of 
this  paper,  but  also  in  order  to  assure  our  brethren  of  other 
communions,  who  are  accustomed  to  follow  with  interest 
the  discussion  of  the  reunion  of  Christendom,  that  they 
must  not  be  discouraged  when  they  hear  protesting  voices 
raised  against  the  fraternal  positions  which  some  of  us 
maintain  toward  them.  There  will  always  be  protesting 
voices ;  that  is  in  the  nature  of  things.  There  will  always 
be  even  bishops  who  will  insist  upon  narrow  interpretations. 
For  our  bishops  are  elected  by  our  clergy  and  laity,  and 
represent  often  the  predominant  party  of  their  own  diocese. 
No  bishop  represents  the  church.  No  six  bishops  setting 
down  episcopal  signatures  one  below  the  other,  with  epis- 
copal seals  attached,  represent  the  church.  They  speak 
only  for  those  who  agree  with  them,  and  the  number  may 
be  small  or  great.  The  time  will  never  come  when  any 
terms  of  ecclesiastical  fraternity  with  any  other  religious 
communion  whatsoever  will  be  agreed  to  by  everybody.  If 
the  invitation,  or  the  proposition,  comes  from  a  fair  major- 
ity of  our  household,  our  brethren  may  take  it  as  the  action 
of  the  church. 

I.  This  characteristic  of  the  Episcopal  Church  establishes 
the  possibility  of  the  reunion  of  Christendom. 

Men  have  lived  together  in  one  church  in  the  past — 
men  of  all  the  temperamental  differences  which  appear  in 
human  nature ;   and  men  equally  different  are  living  to- 


222  THE  REUNION   OF   CHRISTENDOM 

gether  in  one  church  to-day.  If  reunion  means  uniformity 
we  will  have  none  of  it ;  that  we  all  agree  to.  The  experi- 
ence of  the  past  teaches  us  that.  No  plan  for  Christian 
unity  can  gain  acceptance  which  contemplates  the  sinking 
of  subordinate  differences.  The  eternal  fact  of  difference 
must  be  taken  into  account.  God  has  made  us  different. 
We  do  not  look  alike  and  we  do  not  think  alike,  and  God 
never  meant  that  we  should.  He  never  intended  that  the 
great  orchestrated  oratorio  of  religion  should  fall  at  last 
into  one  note,  all  the  various  instruments  playing  that  one 
note,  all  the  different  voices  joining  in  that  one  monoto- 
nous, everlasting  note.  The  reunion  of  Christendom  must 
be  brought  about  with  full  recognition  of  the  righteousness 
of  difference. 

The  idea  that  in  the  united  church  we  must  all  use  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  not  held  by  very  many  Episco- 
palians. When  the  bishops  and  the  representative  clergy- 
men and  laymen  met  in  the  last  General  Convention,  and 
solemnly  set  forth  those  elements  of  religion  which  we  in 
this  church  consider  essential,  the  Prayer-book  was  not 
mentioned.  The  missal  and  the  breviary  will  be  counted 
among  the  books  of  authorized  devotion  in  the  united 
church  ;  and  so  will  the  order  of  service  which  is  set  forth  in 
the  Presbyterian  directory ;  and  so  will  the  no-order  of  ser- 
vice which  the  Salvation  Army  finds  most  expressive  of  its 
praise  and  prayer.  Ritual  uniformity  will  not  characterize 
the  reunited  Christendom. 

Gradually,  no  doubt,  we  will  come  closer  together.  That 
is  going  on  at  present.  The  missal  and  the  breviary  would 
need  some  doctrinal  amendment  before  they  could  be  ac- 
cepted as  permissible  by  the  new  Christendom.  Other 
services  would  shape  themselves  according  to  the  desires 
of  the  people.  The  fittest  would  survive.  We  Episcopa- 
lians believe  that  that  survival  would  greatly  resemble  that 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN         223 

form  of  adoration  and  petition  which  has  stood  the  test  of 
centuries,  which  breathes  the  spirit  of  all  that  is  most  he- 
roic, most  saintly,  and  most  Christian  in  the  past,  which  is 
the  common  heritage  of  Christendom,  and  which  is  to  be 
read  in  English  between  the  covers  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer.  But  that  should  come  about,  if  it  came  at 
all,  not  by  legislative  enactment,  not  by  the  old  fashion  of 
a  date  from  which  all  churches  should  conduct  their  wor- 
ship after  that  manner,  but  by  the  growing  appreciation 
and  the  general  wish  of  the  people.  It  would  then  be  left 
to  every  branch  of  the  united  household  to  say  its  prayers 
in  its  own  way. 

In  the  Episcopal  Church  there  is,-indeed,  a  uniformity  of 
worship,  but  the  common  form  is  so  changed  from  parish 
to  parish,  to  suit  the  wish  of  the  worshipers — here  as  simple 
as  the  use  of  old  Geneva,  and  there  as  elaborate  as  Rome 
— that  the  principle  of  difference  has  ample  play.  People 
who  are  almost  Presbyterians,  people  who  are  almost  Ro- 
man Catholics,  belong  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  There  are 
not  only  ritual  differences  among  us,  but  doctrinal  differ- 
ences also,  answering  to  them.  We  are  Calvinists  and 
Arminians ;  we  hold  the  widest  and  the  narrowest  views 
of  inspiration ;  we  disagree  about  everlasting  punishment, 
and  about  a  score  of  other  matters  of  more  or  less  impor- 
tance ;  and  yet  we  are  all  brethren  in  one  communion. 

And  this,  I  say,  demonstrates  the  possibility  of  Christian 
unity.  The  idea  that  some  folks  are  born  Methodists  and 
can  never  be  anything  else,  or  are  born  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterians and  can  never  be  anything  else,  is  a  mistake. 
Human  nature  has  not  greatly  changed.  People  who  were 
born  Methodists  and  Cumberland  Presbyterians  in  the 
middle  ages  were  baptized  in  the  medieval  church  and  grew 
up  good  Catholics,  becoming  Franciscans  or  Carthusians, 
perhaps,  but  never  needing  to  go  outside  the  church.    And 


224  THE  REUNION  OF   CHRISTENDOM 

there  are  people  with  the  Methodist  temperament  and  with 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  temperament  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  to-day  who  do  not  feel  compelled  to  go  out  of  it. 
The  uniformity  of  Christendom  is,  indeed,  forbidden  by  the 
constitution  of  human  nature,  and  there  is  not  the  least 
likelihood  that  that  disastrous  experiment  will  be  tried  over 
again.  But  the  reunion  of  Christendom  is  a  possibility 
which  is  to-day  in  a  small  way  realized  in  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  thereby  shown  to  be  a  reasonable  thing. 

II.  We  are  also  agreed,  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  that 
the  reunion  of  Christendom,  which  our  own  experience 
proves  to  be  possible,  is  highly  desirable. 

This  we  deduce  partly  from  our  readings  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture and  partly  from  our  daily  observation  of  the  course  of 
human  events.  We  are  sure  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
does  not  approve  of  our  present  disordered  and  combative, 
or,  at  least,  unfraternal  condition.  He  came  to  establish  a 
kingdom  of  heaven,  in  which  order  should  prevail,  wherein 
the  united  citizens  should  work  together  in  obedience  to 
the  King's  will.  St.  Paul  spoke  words  of  no  uncertain 
meaning  when  he  saw  the  beginnings  of  our  present  un- 
happy divisions.  It  is  of  no  avail  to  point  to  our  general 
spiritual  agreement  and  to  our  invisible  union.  When  that 
agreement  and  union  are  real  enough  to  amount  to  some- 
thing they  will  certainly  bring  us  together.  So  long  as  the 
visible  fraternity  is  lacking  we  must  apply  the  same  argu- 
ment concerning  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  brotherhood 
which  we  apply  to  the  seed  at  harvest-time  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  fruit.     "  By  their  fruits  "  is  the  test. 

And,  anyhow,  looking  only  into  the  face  of  present  con- 
ditions, we  see  the  need  of  far  more  union  than  we  have. 
For  the  Christian  church  has  a  work  to  do  and  a  battle  to 
fight,  and  in  order  to  any  sort  of  success  we  must  stand 
together.     Fifty  men  labor  to  move  a  rock,  and  they  go 


AS  IT  APPEARS    TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN         225 

up  five  men  at  a  time  and  push,  and  the  great  rock  does 
not  stir.  Then  all  the  fifty  push  together,  and  up  comes 
the  mass  of  stone  out  of  the  earth.  That  is  what  united 
action  does.  Or  the  time  comes  when  a  man  must  strike 
a  blow,  and  he  extends  four  fingers  and  a- thumb  against 
his  adversary,  and  strikes  with  these.  What  does  such  a 
blow  accomplish  ?  It  hurts  the  man  himself ;  it  does  not 
hurt  the  other  man  at  all.  The  only  effective  blow  is  that 
which  is  struck  with  the  good,  hard,  concentrated  fist.  We 
have  been  fighting  the  devil,  for  now  these  many,  many 
years,  with  our  foolishly  extended  hand,  in  the  four-fingers- 
and-a-thumb  fashion,  with  the  Presbyterian  finger  and  the 
Baptist  finger  and  the  Methodist  finger  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  finger  and  the  Episcopal  thumb.  No  wonder  that 
we  have  made  so  small  an  impression.  We  must  smite  the 
devil  with  our  doubled  fist. 

Thus  we  learn  the  need  of  the  reunion  of  Christendom 
both  from  the  Bible  and  from  human  life.  And  we  Epis- 
copalians realize  the  need.  That  is  one  of  the  rare  things 
upon  which  we  all  agree.  When  we  come  to  consider  ways 
and  means  we  part  at  once  into  various  sides ;  but  that 
this  better  and  more  efficient  Christian  condition  must 
somehow  be  brought  about  we  are  of  one  accord. 

Thus  one  of  the  changes  in  our  recent  revision  of  the 
Prayer-book  was  the  addition  of  a  prayer  For  the  Unity  of 
God's  People.  This  prayer  had  been  already  prayed  by 
many  of  our  people  for  many  years,  being  printed  in  various 
much-used  manuals  of  devotion.  It  has  been  in  especial 
use,  and  is  still,  among  those  of  us  who  are  commonly 
accounted  the  most  exclusive  and  self-centered — our  High- 
churchmen.  All  people  know  of  the  propositions  looking 
toward  closer  unity  which  were  first  put  forth  by  our  bish- 
ops at  Chicago,  afterward  by  bishops  of  the  whole  Anglican 
Church  at  the  conference  called  at  Lambeth  by  the  Arch- 


226  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

bishop  of  Canterbury,  and  finally  by  the  General  Conven- 
tion, representing  the  whole  Episcopal  Church  in  this  coun- 
try, convened  at  Baltimore  in  October,  1892.  Our  desire 
for  the  reunion  of  Christendom  has  thus  been  made  evident 
beyond  mistake. 

III.  It  may  need  to  be  said,  just  here,  that  what  we 
want  is  the  reunion  of  Christendom.  And  Christendom  is 
of  wide  extent.  It  takes  in  a  great  many  very  different 
kinds  of  Christians.  Our  allegiance  to  the  eternal  principle 
of  the  rightfulness  of  difference  is  here  tested  with  a  severe 
and  perilous  test. 

This  sort  of  reunion  means  much  more  than  the  coming 
together  of  various  Protestant  bodies.  It  includes  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  the  Greek  Catholics.  It  touches  not 
only  evangelical,  but  unevangelical  communions,  so  called. 
It  means  the  cooperation  of  all  people  everywhere  who  call 
Jesus  Christ  their  Master.  It  does  not  mean  a  union  of 
errors,  a  confraternity  of  heresies,  a  subordination  of  truth. 
It  implies  a  great  many  changes,  concessions,  compromises, 
adjustments,  amendments.  Reunited  Christendom,  accord- 
ing to  the  Episcopalian  ideal,  will  accept  the  same  Scrip- 
tures, accounting  them  to  contain  all  things  necessary  to 
eternal  salvation,  and  will  recite  the  same  brief  and  vener- 
able creeds,  and  will  administer  the  same  essential  sacra- 
ments— the  two  of  the  Lord's  own  appointing — and  will  be 
included  within  the  same  general  scheme  of  church  order 
whereof  the  Historic  Episcopate  is  the  visible  sign. 

It  is  in  this  last  provision  that  the  Episcopal  Church 
most  markedly  contemplates  a  reunion  of  all  Christendom. 
For  the  Historic  Episcopate  has  to  do  with  the  past,  the 
present,  and  the  future. 

1.  It  reaches  back  into  the  past  and  links  our  own  day 
with  the  age  of  the  apostles.     There  are  certain  simple 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN         227 

statements  which  the  Episcopal  Church  maintains  as  ele- 
mental truths  touching  the  constitution  of  the  church. 

(1)  The  first  is  that  Jesus  Christ  founded  a  society,  and 
that  that  society  is  shown  to  be  visible  and  capable  of  ready 
recognition,  like  any  other  organized  company  of  human 
beings,  partly  by  the  parables  which  compare  it  to  a  field 
sown  with  wheat  and  tares,  and  to  a  net  containing  fishes 
good  and  bad,  partly  by  the  institution  of  a  sacrament  of 
initiation  whereby  persons  become  members  of  it,  and  partly 
by  the  historic  appearance  of  it  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
and  so  on  through  the  centuries. 

(2)  The  second  statement  is  that  Jesus  Christ  intended 
that  this  society  should  continue.  He  said  plainly  that 
he  would  be  with  its  officers  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world,  and  that  the  gates  of  hell  should  not  prevail 
against  it. 

(3)  The  third  statement  is  that  the  perpetuation  of  this 
society,  as  of  any  other,  depends  upon  the  orderly  succes- 
sion of  its  officers.  It  is  evident  that  if  for  any  reason  in 
any  organization  some  of  the  members  decline  to  accept 
the  regularly  appointed  or  elected  president  and  secretary 
and  treasurer,  and  go  apart  to  choose  others  for  themselves, 
they  thereby  forsake  the  original  organization  and  begin 
anew.  In  the  account  of  the  church  contained  in  the  New 
Testament  at  least  two  kinds  of  ecclesiastical  officers  ap- 
pear. We  may  call  them  "appointing  officers"  and  "ap- 
pointed officers."  The  appointing  officers  are  few,  the 
appointed  are  many.  The  appointing  officers  go  about 
from  place  to  place ;  the  appointed  officers  are  stationed 
each  in  his.  own  town.  The  classic  passage  is  that  m 
which  Titus,  appointing  officer  for  Crete,  is  directed  to 
ordain  elders  in  every  city.  (Titus  i.  5.)  Presently,  when 
history  again  gets  a  good  sight  at  the  church,  after  the  con- 


228  THE  REUNION   OF   CHRISTENDOM 

fusion  of  the  first  century  of  its  life,  the  appointing  officer 
is  plainly  seen  going  about  his  duties,  and  named  bishop, 
and  the  appointed  officers  appear  also,  named  presbyters 
and  deacons ;  and  it  is  a  settled  understanding  in  the  Chris- 
tian society  that  no  man  may  become  a  lawful  officer  of 
that  organization  unless  he  is  regularly  directed  to  his  duties 
by  the  action  of  the  bishop.  Whenever  any  members  of 
the  Christian  society  became,  rightly  or  wrongly,  dissatisfied 
with  the  administration,  so  that  they  withdrew  from  the 
fellowship  of  the  regularly  appointed  officials,  and  irregu- 
larly chose  others  of  their  own,  they  were  accounted  to 
have  departed  from  that  organization  which  Jesus  Christ 
founded,  and  of  which  the  apostles  were  the  first  ministers. 
Those  departures  were  in  many  instances  for  good  and 
sufficient  cause ;  men  were  sometimes  compelled  to  choose 
between  Christ's  doctrine  and  Christ's  society.  But  the 
effect  of  the  departure  was,  nevertheless,  to  introduce  divi- 
sion, and  to  bring  in,  finally,  that  unhappy  condition  of 
things  which  we  are  just  now  trying  to  get  out  of. 

This  Historic  Episcopate,  which  marks  to-day  the  original 
apostolic  society  still  continuing,  and  which  is  thus  of  itself 
a  note  of  unity,  is  possessed  by  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
is  offered  by  that  church  as  its  especial  contribution  to  the 
cause  of  the  reunion  of  Christendom.  At  the  Reformation 
the  church  in  England  effected  its  own  amendment;  no- 
body needed  to  go  out  of  the  Christian  society.  There  was 
no  break  with  what  was  essential  in  the  past.  The  pope, 
a  comparatively  new  officer,  not  contemplated  in  the  apos- 
tolic ordering  of  the  church,  was,  indeed,  rejected ;  but  the 
bishops,  the  original  appointing  officials,  the  characteristic 
and  necessary  ministers  of  the  church  from  the  beginning, 
continued  without  interruption,  and  have  since  continued, 
and  are  alive  to-day  and  busy  at  their  old  tasks  in  this 
country  in  the  Episcopal  Church. 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN         229 

2.  The  value  of  the  Historic  Episcopate  for  the  present 
and  for  the  future  is  shown,  first,  by  the  fact  that  Christen- 
dom is  chiefly  composed  of  Christians  who  both  hold  and 
prize  that  apostolic  government,  and  who  are  not  likely  to 
be  persuaded  at  this  time  of  day  to  forsake  it  and  join  any 
brand-new  experimental  Christian  church.  If  we  intend 
as  our  ideal  the  reunion  of  Christendom,  and  not  simply 
the  combination  of  a  dozen  friendly  Protestant  denomina- 
tions in  the  United  States  of  America,  we  may  set  down  the 
Historic  Episcopate  as  one  of  the  essential  characteristics  of 
that  millennial  church  in  which  Greeks  and  Romans,  Pres- 
byterians and  Methodists,  Episcopalians  and  Baptists,  shall 
say  their  prayers  together.  To  form  an  association  upon 
the  basis  of  the  abandonment  of  the  Historic  Episcopate 
would  be  only  to  erect  another  barrier  across  the  way  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  would  be  the  gaining  of  a  tem- 
porary, local,  and  delusive  advantage  at  the  cost  of  losing 
all  opportunity  of  that  genuine  union  of  all  Christians  for 
which  we  daily  pray  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  which  God 
in  his  own  good  time  will  surely  bring  about. 

This,  I  suppose,  was  in  the  minds  of  the  bishops  when 
they  returned  their  negative  answers  to  the  informal  propo- 
sition to  permit  an  interchange  of  pulpits.  They  felt  that 
the  gain  would  be  small  and  unreal,  and  that  it  is  of  im- 
portance to  maintain,  for  the  sake  of  future  larger  unity,  a 
difference  which  shall  be  easily  visible  between  the  ministry 
of  apostolic  appointment  and  other  ministers  ordained  in 
other  ways. 

A  second  fact  looking  toward  the  present  and  the  future 
value  of  the  Historic  Episcopate  is  that  which  Dr.  Shields 
has  admirably  stated  in  his  monograph  upon  this  subject. 
The  only  working-center  of  union  is  that  which  is  afforded 
by  a  common  government.  Only  thus  can  free  play  be 
given  to  our  temperamental  differences.     We  cannot  unite 


230  THE   REUNION   OF   CHRISTENDOM 

on  ritual ;  if  we  could,  such  union  would  avail  little.  We 
cannot  unite  on  doctrine — not,  at  least,  upon  a  body  of 
doctrine  like  the  confessions  of  the  fathers  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. We  must  be  free  to  think.  But  we  can  unite  in  alle- 
giance to  a  company  of  officers  of  our  own  choosing ;  their 
powers  properly  limited  by  a  written  constitution  of  our 
own  devising,  and  their  ordination  given  in  the  ancient 
regular  manner  of  the  church  of  the  ages.  In  natural 
loyalty  to  these  living  men,  taking  hold  upon  the  actual 
present,  and  having  their  faces  turned  toward  the  future,  a 
living  church  may  live.  These  leaders  may  lead  us,  a  united 
and  effective  army,  against  the  allied  forces  of  the  world, 
the  devil,  and  the  flesh.  Unity  we  want,  not  for  the  senti- 
ment of  it,  but  for  its  working  and  fighting  quality.  And 
such  unity,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the 
episcopate  has  given  in  the  past — even  when  inadequately 
ordered — and  is  giving  in  the  present,  and  will  give  in  the 
future. 

The  doctrine  of  transmitted  grace  does  not  enter  in. 
The  phrase  "  Historic  Episcopate  "  was  substituted  for  the 
old  phrase  "  Apostolic  Succession  "  in  the  bishops'  articles 
of  union,  and  the  emphasis  was  thereby  transferred  from  a 
private  opinion  to  a  universal  truth.  The  Historic  Episco- 
pate means  effective  Christian  leadership.  When  we  get 
it  we  will  not  need  to  dispute  about  the  grace  of  orders. 
The  blessing  of  the  God  of  Pentecost  will  rest  upon  the 
reunited  church. 

IV.  As  to  the  way  by  which  the  reunion  of  Christendom 
may  best  be  brought  about  the  Episcopal  Church  has  ex- 
pressed a  decided  opinion. 

The  first  step,  in  our  judgment,  is  a  statement  on  the 
part  of  all  concerned  of  what  are  held  to  be  essentials. 
What  is  our  own  best  ?  What  do  we  feel  bound  to  main- 
tain as  the  condition  of  our  entrance  into  this  Christian 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  AN  EPISCOPALIAN         231 

union  ?  What  especial  contribution  do  we  bring  to  this 
church  of  the  future  ?  This  is  the  initial  step.  This  is 
necessary  to  any  kind  of  understanding. 

Accordingly  the  Episcopal  Church  set  the  example.  We 
drew  up  a  statement  of  our  own  position.  We  said  that, 
for  our  part,  we  must  insist  upon  the  Scriptures,  the  creeds, 
the  sacraments,  and  the  Historic  Episcopate.  The  next 
natural  step  would  have  been  for  the  Presbyterians  and 
the  Congregationalists  and  the  Methodists  and  the  Roman 
Catholics  and  our  various  other  brethren  to  have  done  like- 
wise. What  are  the  essential  Presbyterian  positions  ?  What 
do  Congregationalists  consider  vital  ?  and  so  on.  Instead 
of  that  the  action  of  the  Episcopal  Church  was  in  many 
quarters  misunderstood.  The  brethren,  instead  of  deter- 
mining their  own  essentials  and  bringing  them  into  friendly 
conference,  began  to  attack  ours.  Some  of  them  even  re- 
viled us  for  making  any  statement  whatsoever. 

All  this,  however,  comes  naturally  into  the  day's  work 
and  is  to  be  expected.  We  have  so  long  lived  in  a  state 
of  envy,  hatred,  malice,  and  all  uncharitableness  that  frater- 
nal words  are  reasonably  open  to  suspicion.  What  hidden 
purpose  lay  behind  these  plausible,  smooth,  probably  hypo- 
critical propositions  of  ours  ? — that  was  what  various  dig- 
nified members  of  ecclesiastical  conventions  wanted  to  know. 
Surely  it  was  some  sort  of  shrewd  prelatical  trap  into  which 
the  brethren  were  lured  to  walk,  that  they  might  suddenly 
find  themselves  snared  in  the  superstitions  of  episcopacy. 
It  was  simply  incredible  that  we  meant  just  what  we  said 
— that  was  the  conclusion.  And  it  looked  for  a  time  as  if 
confusion  were  to  be  but  worse  confounded,  and  as  if  our 
"  precious  balms  " — in  the  language  of  the  Psalter — were 
to  serve  no  better  purpose  than  to  break  our  heads  withal. 

Yet  the  Episcopalian  proposition  remains  the  only  rea- 
sonable road  toward  reunion.     Let  us  each  make  an  essen- 


232  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

tial  statement.  And  then,  secondly,  after  the  essential 
statements  are  in  from  as  many  Christian  communions  as 
are  willing  to  make  them,  let  us  institute  a  careful  compari- 
son ;  let  us  see  of  what  elements  the  reunited  church,  on 
this  basis,  must  consist.  Then  we  may  be  ready  for  a  fair 
debate.  Then  the  adjustments,  the  more  efficient  phras- 
ings,  the  compromises,  the  reasonable  changes  of  position, 
may  begin,  and  not  before.  Out  of  this  parliament  of 
churches,  this  federation  of  communions,  this  new  ecumen- 
ical council,  wherein  each  deputy  holds  in  his  hand,  as  he 
prays  the  Lord's  Prayer  at  the  opening  service,  a  statement 
in  brief  terms  of  that  which  every  denomination  asks  for 
in  the  ideal  church — out  of  this  new  pentecostal  company, 
met  in  one  place  with  one  devout  intent,  under  the  gui- 
dance of  the  enabling  Spirit,  may  issue  the  new  church,  old 
as  the  apostles,  defiant  of  the  gates  of  hell,  the  Reunited 
Christendom. 


IX 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  A  CONGREGATIONALIST 

WILLIAM  G.  BALLANTINE,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Oberlin  College. 


233 


IX 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS  TO 
A   CONGREGATION A  LIST 

"  Behold,  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  breth- 
ren to  dwell  together  in  unity !  "  Theologians  have  exer- 
cised a  good  deal  of  ingenuity  in  defining  what  they  have 
termed  the  " notes  of  the  church" — that  is,  the  marks 
by  which  it  may  be  determined  whether  any  given  com- 
pany of  people  is  or  is  not  a  part  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
Our  Lord  himself  gave  us  one,  which,  since  it  has  his  ex- 
press sanction,  should  be  written  down  first :  "  By  this  shall 
all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one 
to  another."  In  his  last  great  high-priestly  prayer  Jesus 
prayed  :  "  Holy  Father,  keep  them  in  thy  name  which  thou 
hast  given  me,  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are." 
Unity,  then,  or  at  least  the  spirit  of  unity,  the  impulse  to- 
ward and  effort  for  unity,  "  as  much  as  in  us  lieth,"  is  the 
first  note  of  genuine  Christianity. 

It  is  passing  strange  that  this  great  truth  has  been,  until 
recently,  so  much  neglected.  Those  of  us  in  middle  life, 
or  past  it,  can  remember,  among  the  hundreds  of  sermons 
to  which  we  have  listened,  but  very  few  upon  the  duty  of 
promoting  unity  among  Christians.  To  most  people  it 
seems  a  far  more  hopeful  undertaking  to  convert  the 
heathen  than  to  persuade  Christians  to  give  up  their  preju- 
dices. Besotted  as  the  pagans  are  in  superstition,  it  ap- 
pears less  visionary  to  attempt  to  carry  them  all  the  way 

235 


236  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

from  fetish-worship  to  Christ  than  to  carry  a  Christian 
from  sectarianism  to  catholicity. 

But  Christian  thought  has  come  now  to  a  point  where 
unity  among  Christians  is  recognized  in  its  true  character 
as  a  duty.  And  what  is  more  encouraging  still,  many 
Christian  hearts  are  crying  out  for  larger  fellowship.  The 
necessities  of  the  great  work  of  saving  the  world  are  forcing 
us  to  see  the  folly  of  wasting  men  and  money  and  labor  in 
jealousy  and  mutual  opposition.  Common  enterprises  of 
benevolence  are  bringing  us  into  fellowship  so  sweet  that 
we  cannot  pull  asunder. 

Christianity,  indeed,  is  above  all  things  a  fellowship. 
"  If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  his 
Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  The  Apostle  John,  in 
his  wonderful  First  Epistle,  develops  this  idea  that  the 
Christian  life  is  a  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  with  the 
Son  and  with  one  another.  The  Christian  life  cannot  be 
lived  in  isolation,  surrounded  by  a  Chinese  wall  of  suspi- 
cion and  censoriousness.  It  is  a  common  life  like  that  of 
one  human  body.  We  are  all  members  one  of  another, 
and  Christ  is  the  head.  This  is  true  not  simply  of  the  local 
church,  but  of  the  universal  church — the  holy  catholic 
church. 

The  tendency  to  division  among  Christians  early  showed 
itself,  for  it  is  a  natural  product  of  the  carnal  mind.  Paul 
sternly  rebuked  the  Corinthians  for  this  fault :  "  Whereas 
there  is  among  you  jealousy  and  strife,  are  ye  not  carnal, 
and  walk  after  the  manner  of  men  ?  For  when  one  saith, 
I  am  of  Paul ;  and  another,  I  am  of  Apollos ;  are  ye  not 
men  ?  What  then  is  Apollos  ?  and  what  is  Paul  ?  Min- 
isters through  whom  ye  believed ;  and  each  as  the  Lord 
gave  to  him."  Yet  in  the  face  of  the  Apostle's  express 
condemnation  of  such  a  course  we  have  gone  on  to  the 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  CONGREGATIONALIST     237 

present  time  saying,  "  I  am  of  Calvin,"  and  "  I  of  Luther," 
and  "  I  of  Wesley,"  and  "  I  of  Christ." 

The  question  before  us  now  is  how  these  shameful  and 
harmful  divisions  in  the  one  church  may  be  healed,  and 
how  we  may  return  most  quickly  and  most  sweetly  to  the 
original  unity  around  our  common  Lord.  The  mere  enun- 
ciation of  such  a  proposition  ennobles  us  all.  It  is  like  a 
breath  from  heaven  quickening  every  holy  emotion.  May 
He  whom  we  all  adore — the  Prince  of  Peace — guide  us  in 
genuine  progress  toward  a  happy  consummation  ! 

1.  At  the  outset  it  is  necessary  to  consider  attentively 
those  two  fundamental  principles  of  Christian  relationship 
and  association  which  Paul  unfolds  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  chapters  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  neglect 
of  which  is  the  cause  of  all  our  present  unhappy  divisions. 
These  two  principles  are : 

(1)  Mutual  Independence. 

(2)  Mutual  Self-subordination. 

The  more  intimately  people  are  associated  the  more  need 
there  is  for  regulative  principles.  With  such  a  diversity  of 
mental  endowments,  tastes,  and  temperaments,  the  brother- 
hood of  all  men  would  be  hopeless  unless  controlled  by 
some  sublime  universal  principles  applicable  to  all  situa- 
tions and  adequate  for  the  solution  of  every  difficulty. 
Such  principles  Paul  clearly  laid  down  and  reiterated  with 
all  his  forceful  rhetoric.  But  the  church  forgot  them,  or, 
rather,  never  really  comprehended  them,  and  hence  "  con- 
fusion and  every  evil  work." 

The  text,  "  For  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  none 
dieth  to  himself,"  is  usually  chosen  when  a  minister  is  to 
preach  on  the  solidarity  of  the  human  race  or  of  the  church. 
This  text  is  assumed  to  teach  that  we  are  all  so  interlinked 
that  each  affects  all,  and,  consequently,  that  each  owes 
duties  to  all.     Here  is  a  striking  example  of  that  shameful 


2$%  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

slovenliness  in  handling  the  Scriptures,  which  even  those 
who  profess  the  highest  reverence  for  them  often  show, 
and  which  loses  for  us  the  meaning  of  so  many  important 
passages. 

When  Paul  said,  "  None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and 
none  dieth  to  himself,"  he  was  not  emphasizing  our  rela- 
tion to  one  another,  but  our  relation  to  God.  He  was  say- 
ing that  we  have  no  right  to  judge  our  brother,  because 
that  brother  is  not  living  to  himself,  but  to  God.  Our 
brother  is  God's  servant,  not  his  own  nor  ours.  A  Chris- 
tian life  is  no  private  affair  amenable  to  human  supervision. 
It  is  a  sacred  and  divine  relationship,  upon  which  let  no 
man  dare  to  intrude.  The  context  proves  that  this  is 
Paul's  meaning.  He  goes  right  on  to  say,  "  For  whether 
we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord ;  or  whether  we  die,  we  die 
unto  the  Lord :  whether  we  live  therefore,  or  die,  we  are 
the  Lord's.  .  .  .  But  thou,  why  dost  thou  judge  thy 
brother  ?  or  thou  again,  why  dost  thou  set  at  naught  thy 
brother  ?  for  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
God.  ...  So  then  each  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of 
himself  to  God."  Paul's  point  is,  each  of  us  shall  give  ac- 
count, not  of  his  brother,  but  of  /iimse/f,  not  to  his  brother, 
but  to  God. 

Paul  did  not  attempt  to  decide  all  disputed  questions, 
although  he  was  an  inspired  apostle.  Such  an  attempt 
would  have  been  futile.  As  long  as  men  are  men  differ- 
ences of  view  will  arise.  Paul  did  not  say,  "  Let  the  ency- 
clical of  the  pope,  or  the  resolutions  of  the  National  Coun- 
cil, settle  all."  He  did  not  say,  "  Appeal  to  the  Conference 
or  the  General  Assembly."  He  distinctly  said,  "  Let  each 
man  be  fully  assured  in  his  own  mind."  According  to 
this  each  Christian  stands  in  direct  personal  fellowship  with 
God  and  responsibility  to  him  alone.  Upon  his  opinions 
and  practices  no  living  man  has  a  right  to  pass  judgment. 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  CONGREGATION  A  LIST     239 

At  the  end  each  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God;  not 
of  his  neighbor  to  God,  nor  of  himself  to  his  neighbor  or 
to  the  church. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  talk  about  unity  or  union  until  this 
great  principle  is  fully  understood  and  accepted.  It  is,  in- 
deed, the  fundamental  principle  of  Protestantism,  although 
most  Protestants  largely  traverse  it  in  practice.  This  is 
nothing  but  the  principle  of  the  right  of  private  judgment. 

The  second  great  principle  of  Christian  association  is 
like  unto  the  first.  It  is  the  principle  of  mutual  self-subor- 
dination. Although  in  Christ  I  am  free  from  the  dictation 
of  all  men,  yet  I  am  also  free,  and,  indeed,  feel  the  im- 
pulse, to  make  myself  the  servant  of  all  for  their  salvation. 
"  Let  each  one  of  us,"  says  Paul,  "please  his  neighbor  for 
that  which  is  good,  unto  edifying.  For  Christ  also  pleased 
not  himself."  There  is  no  limit  to  the  concessions  which, 
in  external  things,  we  may  make  for  a  weak  brother's  sake. 
We  may  become  all  things  to  all  men.  No  one  has  a  right 
to  judge  me  for  using  meat  or  wine  or  tobacco,  if  I  do  it 
conscientiously  in  faith.  But  if  it  appears  that  meat  or 
wine  or  tobacco  makes  my  brother  to  offend,  I  am  free  to 
go  without  it  to  the  end  of  life.  No  one  may  disparage 
me  for  neglecting  immersion  or  ordination,  on  principle. 
But  no  principle  should  dictate  my  course  in  regard  to  those 
externals  but  the  principle  of  love  for  my  brother.  The 
fact  that  each  man  is  "  my  brother,"  and  that  Christ  my 
Saviour  died  for  him,  should  make  me  ready  even  to  lay 
down  my  life  for  him. 

It  is  an  interesting  thing  to  observe  in  passing  that  these 
two  principles  of  Christian  fellowship,  namely,  mutual  in- 
dependence and  mutual  self-subordination,  with  the  conse- 
quent mutual  joy,  educed  exegetically  from  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  chapters  of  Romans,  agree  exactly  with  the 
philosophical    analysis    of    love    so    eloquently   given    by 


240  THE   REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

Dr.  Newman  Smyth  in  his  "  Christian  Ethics  "  (pp.  226  ff.). 
"  Love,"  according  to  Dr.  Smyth,  "  contains  in  its  unity  a 
trinity  of  virtue.  It  comprehends  within  itself  the  three 
following  distinctions:  moral  self-affirmation,  self-imparta- 
tion,  and  self-existence  in  others.  Love  affirms  its  own 
worthiness,  imparts  to  others  its  good,  and  finds  its  life 
again  in  the  well-being  of  others." 

It  may  be  added,  also,  that  these  two  Pauline  principles 
are  the  two  principles  which  we  seek  to  work  out  in  the 
Congregational  church  polity.  Each  local  church  is  ab- 
solutely independent,  and  yet  it  freely  acts  in  consultation 
and  concurrence  and  sisterly  affection  with  neighboring 
churches.  Each  party  to  the  fellowship  participates,  not 
because  it  must,  but  because  it  will. 

2.  Secondly,  in  our  movement  toward  unity  we  must 
proceed  inductively.  This  is  an  age  of  inductive  science ; 
and  religion,  if  it  is  not  to  fall  behind  the  times,  must  open 
its  eyes  to  the  objective  existence  of  facts.  We  are  not  to 
construct  the  church  out  of  our  own  inner  consciousness, 
as  the  German  metaphysician  is  said  to  have  constructed 
the  camel.  We  are  not  the  founders  of  the  church  or  the 
authors  of  its  constitution.  We  are  merely  converted  men 
who,  having  found  the  Saviour,  or,  rather,  having  been 
found  by  him,  are  looking  about  to  see  what  other  sheep 
he  has,  that  we  may  love  them  and  rejoice  with  them  and 
labor  with  them.  We  are  told  by  our  Master  that  it  is  our 
duty  to  do  this.  The  question  is  not  whether  we  will  ad- 
mit into  our  fellowship  persons  having  or  lacking  certain 
marks,  but,  What  are  the  marks  by  which  we  may  recognize 
those  already  in  Christ's  fellowship  ?  You  and  I  do  not 
own  any  fellowship  to  admit  people  into  or  to  exclude  them 
from.  There  is  but  one  Head,  even  Christ.  The  newly 
regenerate  man  may  think  that  immersion  is  plainly  taught 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  that  it  is  so  simple  and  beau.ti- 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  CONGREGATION ALIST     241 

ful  and  reasonable  an  ordinance  that  it  surely  is  a  mark  of 
discipleship.  But  he  comes  across  a  community  of  Qua- 
kers, who  have  no  visible  sacraments.  Here  is  a  fact  as 
solid  and  as  immovable  as  Plymouth  Rock.  No  people 
in  the  world  have  a  clearer  title  to  the  name  of  Christ  than 
the  Quakers.  It  is  of  no  use  to  argue ;  you  cannot  argue 
away  a  fact.  There  they  are,  in  the  visible  church,  and 
I,  for  one,  hasten  to  unite  with  them,  much  surprised,  I 
confess,  and  puzzled,  but  exclaiming,  "  O  the  depth  of  the 
riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  the  knowledge  of  God  !  how 
unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  tracing 
out!" 

I  have  chosen  the  Quakers  as  an  illustration  because 
they  have  neither  the  " Historic  Episcopate"  nor  the  "prim- 
itive sacraments,"  and  yet  they  are  undoubtedly  Christians 
of  the  best  type.  If  "  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost "  are  the  tests,  the  Quakers  stand  high. 
When  facts  are  appealed  to  theories  must  give  way.  The 
reunion  of  Christendom  must  be  on  the  basis  of  a  full  ac- 
knowledgment of  existing  facts.  We  must  check  our  own 
pride  of  knowledge  and  orthodoxy,  and  reverently  trace 
the  lines  marked  out  by  the  divine  Spirit.  We  must  not 
deny  liberty  which  the  Spirit  has  sanctioned.  As  well  try 
to  preserve  the  American  Union  by  asking  all  of  our  sixty- 
five  millions  to  move  into  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  as  to 
invite  all  Christians  to  reunion  within  the  lines  of  immer- 
sion and  the  Historic  Episcopate. 

3.  This  brings  us,  in  the  third  place,  to  observe  the  un- 
expected light  which  falls  from  the  admitted  duty  of  unity 
upon  our  theoretical  theology  and  polity.  Starting  out 
for  what  seems  a  simple,  practical  duty,  something  within 
the  domain  of  "  ecclesiastical  politics,"  we  find  that  we 
cannot  do  that  duty  without  an  entire  revision  of  our  theory 
of  the  proportions  of  Christianity.     Before  we  can  unite,  it 


242  THE  REUNION   OF   CHRISTENDOM 

must  be  determined  what  we  are  going  to  unite  about,  and 
in  what  sense. 

We  have  been  accustomed  to  think  of  unity  as  a  far-off 
happy  result  to  come  at  the  end  of  Christian  ages.  We 
have  thought  that  the  world  was  to  be  converted  to  Christ 
by  the  sporadic  efforts  of  discordant  sects,  and  that  theo- 
logical truth  and  the  best  polity  were  to  be  wrought  out  in 
the  heat  of  partizan  controversy  and  the  acrimony  of  heresy 
trials ;  and  then  at  the  end,  when  the  millennium  had  been 
brought  about  in  this  way,  we  should  rush  into  one  another's 
arms  in  mutual  congratulation.  Upon  this  theory  there 
were  many  duties  more  pressing  than  the  duty  of  unity, 
and  a  great  many  things  were  right  although  obviously  in- 
compatible with  unity.  But  now  that  we  have  come,  to 
see  that  it  is  our  duty  to  unite  instantly,  that  unity  is  the 
primary  mark  of  Christianity,  the  whole  perspective  has 
changed.  The  whole  order  of  procedure  is  different.  In- 
stead of  starting  out  to  make  propaganda  for  our  own  pet 
theories  of  church  government  or  the  ordinances,  we  see 
that  we  must  accept  the  church  of  Christ  just  as  it  is,  and 
unite  just  as  we  are.  The  important  truths,  the  vital  prin- 
ciples, the  basis  of  reunion,  must  be  not  something  yet  to 
be  accepted  by  a  portion  of  Christendom,  but  simply  what 
is  already  accepted.  The  old  maxim  that  that  is  essential 
Christian  doctrine  which  has  been  accepted  always,  every- 
where, and  by  all — quod  semper,  quod  ubique,  quod  ab 
omnibus — a  dictum  often  ridiculed  as  utterly  indefinite,  is 
now  seen  to  be  the  only  possible  truth. 

An  early  result  of  our  search  for  an  inductive  basis  of 
union,  one  formulated  after  examination  of  all  living  Chris- 
tians, and  a  statement  of  that  in  which  they  do  in  fact 
agree,  will  be  a  rediscovery  of  that  sublime  truth  which 
Paul  wrought  out  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  himself 
quivering  with  an  intense  emotion  which  even  oaths  and 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  CONGREGATIONALIST    243 

curses  could  not  relieve,  while  on  the  anvil  of  his  logic  he 
hammered  the  glowing  links  of  his  argument  to  prove  that 
"  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor 
uncircumcision  ;  but  faith  working  through  love."  That  is, 
Christianity  is  purely  ethical  and  spiritual.  It  is  not  sacra- 
mental nor  theological  nor  hierarchical.  The  sole  question 
is  whether  the  candidate  is  a  new  creature  in  Christ.  It 
is  not,  Does  he  acknowledge  Paul  as  his  bishop  ?  It  is, 
Does  he  yield  in  life  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  ?  If  we  see  in 
him  "love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness, 
faithfulness,  meekness,  temperance,"  then  we  are  to  recog- 
nize him  at  once  as  a  brother. 

We  are  not  to  unite  after  we  have  settled  all  our  differ- 
ences, but  we  are  to  unite  at  once,  that  we  may  rightly  set- 
tle them.  It  may  well  be  true  that  the  denomination  called 
Disciples  of  Christ  are  right  on  the  question  of  baptism ; 
but  how  can  I  receive  candidly  their  arguments,  and  take 
that  brotherly  attitude  of  sympathy  which  will  enable  me 
to  reach  their  view-point,  while  I  am  separated  from  them 
by  a  denominational  wall,  and  am  in  a  measure  pledged 
to  cooperate  with  those  who  reject  immersion?  The  Epis- 
copalians may  be  right  as  to  the  principles  of  church  polity 
and  as  to  the  historic  character  of  the  episcopate ;  but  I 
am  at  a  sad  disadvantage  in  discussing  that  question  while 
all  my  immediate  associations  and  personal  interests  are  in- 
volved with  a  different  view.  The  truth  of  the  unity  of  the 
church  and  the  duty  of  unity  among  Christians  are  points 
about  which  we  can  all  agree.  Let  us  come  at  once  upon 
that  platform,  and  from  that  basis  work  out  all  the  rest. 
It  is  more  imperative  that  we  should  be  united  than  that 
we  should  be  rightly  baptized  or  rightly  officered. 

What  we  want  is  "  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace."  To  unite  on  any  other  basis  would  be  a  delusion. 
It  would  not  be  Christian  union.     Union  on  the  basis  of 


244  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

episcopal  ordination,  or  immersion,  or  faith  in  the  infallible 
original  autographs  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  acceptance  of 
the  Apostles'  and  Nicene  creeds,  would  not  be  a  step  in 
advance.  It  would  be  a  step  backward.  It  would  be  an 
association  under  a  mistake,  putting  the  physical  or  the  in- 
tellectual or  even  the  superstitious  for  the  spiritual.  We 
want  a  union  which  will  guarantee  to  us  intellectual  liberty, 
not  suppress  it ;  and  which  shall,  by  necessary  consequence, 
legitimize  that  variety  which  always  springs  out  of  liberty. 
The  only  union  of  value,  the  union  to  be  prayed  for,  is  that 
union  which  springs  spontaneously  from  mutual  recognition 
of  those  who  have  the  mind  of  Christ.  As  two  drops  of 
quicksilver  rush  into  one,  so  every  two  neighboring  Chris- 
tian hearts  should  blend. 

An  immediate  movement  for  union  would  force  a  revi- 
sion of  our  ideas  of  church  government.  We  should  have 
to  acknowledge  the  legitimacy  of  every  kind  of  polity,  and 
the  right  of  each  several  company  of  Christians  to  follow 
their  own  conscientious  convictions  of  duty.  Above  all,  we 
should  have  to  concede  the  widest  liberty.  For  myself,  as 
a  Congregationalist,  I  do  not  find  in  Scripture  or  in  church 
history  any  indication  of  a  legitimate  sphere  for  a  govern- 
ment above  the  local  assembly  of  Christians,  each  of  whom 
is  a  king  and  a  priest  unto  God,  an  authorized  and  final  in- 
terpreter of  Scripture,  and  a  creed-maker.  If  immoralities 
occur  Christ  himself  has  told  us  how  to  proceed  in  expel- 
ling the  sinful  and  contumacious  member  from  the  local 
church.  If  some  brother,  while  conscientious  and  faithful 
in  practical  life,  reaches  theological  convictions  which  others 
regard  as  unsound,  there  is  no  legitimate  way  to  get  rid  of 
him. 

To  all  this  it  will  be  replied  that  what  I  am  contending 
for  we  already  have,  and  that  such  a  union  is  virtually  no 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  CONGREGATIONALIST    245 
union  at  all.     This  I  do  not  admit.     True,  we  are  making 


rapid  progress  toward  what  I  am  advocating.  One  of  the 
delights  of  living  nowadays  is  to  watch  the  rapidly  advanc- 
ing reunion  of  Christendom.  Nowhere  in  the  world  is  that 
reunion  more  beautifully  manifest  than  in  these  delightful 
groves  of  Chautauqua.  Here  under  the  trees  is  a  genuine 
and  visible  and  practical  fellowship  among  Methodists  and 
Baptists  and  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  and  all 
the  rest,  which  very  nearly  fulfils  my  ideal.  We  recognize 
here  that  what  we  have  in  common  infinitely  exceeds  what 
we  hold  apart.  This  is  what  we  wish  to  realize  all  over 
the  world. 

The  true  program  for  those  of  us  who  wish  to  promote  the 
spiritual  reunion  of  Christendom  will  be  somewhat  as  follows : 

1.  To  concede  fully  and  freely  to  every  Christian  and 
every  body  of  Christians  the  right  to  independent  assur- 
ance as  to  each  disputed  point. 

2.  To  cultivate  the  utmost  courtesy  in  discussion,  seek- 
ing not  for- verbal  victories,  but  simply  the  establishment 
of  truth,  admitting  that  we  ourselves  may  be  in  the  wrong. 

3.  Just  as  far  as  possible  to  drop  all  controversy  re- 
garding disputed  points,  inferring  at  once  that  if  anything 
is  doubtful  to  any  it  cannot  be  of  primary  importance,  al- 
though it  might  otherwise  seem  so  to  us. 

4.  To  magnify  the  things  in  which  all  Christians  agree, 
and  to  put  all  the  cordiality  possible  into  all  union  efforts, 
like  this  at  Chautauqua,  work  like  Mr.  Moody's  and  Mr. 
Mills's,  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  associated  chari- 
ties, the  civic  federations,  etc. 

5.  To  concentrate  Christian  attention  on  the  needs  of  a 
sinful,  ignorant,  suffering,  and  sorrowing  world,  and  the 
paramount  necessity  of  comity  and  cooperation  in  using 
the  means  at  command  for  the  salvation  of  mankind. 


246  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

I  myself  do  not  pray  for  the  organic  union  of  Christen- 
dom. In  the  church  to  which  I  belong  we  feel  no  need  of 
more  government.  We  have  no  use  for  an  historic  bishop 
to  set  things  in  order,  nor  for  a  General  Assembly  to  revise 
our  creed.  We  are  not  impatient  to  commune  with  the 
immersionists,  nor  to  preach  in  Episcopalian  pulpits.  Like 
Gallio,  we  "care  for  none  of  these  things."  We  do  not 
desire  all  to  think  and  act  alike  in  non-essentials.  What 
we  want  is  the  mutual  assurance  of  perfect  love  and  con- 
fidence and  recognition.  If  asked  in  what  Christian  assem- 
blies I  have  felt  most  impressed  I  should  find  it  hard  to 
say  whether  most  where  the  anthems  of  heavenly  sweetness, 
sung  by  boys'  voices,  swelled  through  the  historic  arches  of 
Westminster,  or  in  a  plain  Quaker  meeting-house  in  New 
York  City,  where  in  silence  a  whole  congregation  waited 
for  the  illumination  of  the  divine  Spirit.  God  fulfils  him- 
self in  many  ways.  One  good  custom  might  corrupt  the 
world.  "  All  things  are  ours  ;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or 
Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present, 
or  things  to  come ;  all  are  ours ;  and  we  are  Christ's ;  and 
Christ  is  God's." 

The  practical  results  of  a  spiritual  union  would  be  mani- 
fold. That  competition  of  sects  in  small  towns  which  is 
now  the  scandal  of  the  times  would  cease.  All  missionary 
efforts  would  receive  a  new  strength  from  mutual  coopera- 
tion. There  would  be  an  immense  enrichment  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  of  each  denomination  by  appropriation  of  the  best 
things  belonging  to  all  the  others.  This  has  already  been 
accomplished  in  our  hymn-books,  so  that  we  all  sing  Roman 
Catholic  and  Unitarian  and  Calvinistic  and  Arminian  hymns 
in  sweet  unconsciousness  of  their  being  anything  but  Chris- 
tian. 

The  consciousness  of  spiritual  union  with  the  whole  body 
of  Christ  would  have,  I  believe,  on  the  individual  Christian  a 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  CONGREGATIONALIST    247 

peculiarly  enlarging  and  inspiring  effect.  What  a  delight- 
ful change  of  attitude,  from  suspicion  and  coldness  and 
opposition  to  brotherly  love  !  A  new  thrill  of  life  and  joy 
and  peace,  a  new  sense  of  power  and  hope,  would  come  to 
all.  The  unbelieving  multitudes  would  feel  it ;  the  cavil- 
ings  of  objectors  would  sink  into  silence ;  the  icy  barriers 
of  heathenism  would  melt,  and  the  world  lie  conquered  at 
the  feet  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 


X 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN 


HENRY  M.  BOOTH,  D.D., 
President  of  the  Auburn  Theological  Seminary. 


249 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN 

A  Presbyterian  can  speak  of  the  reunion  of  Christen- 
dom, because  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  spoken  and  is 
still  speaking.  The  opinions  of  a  Presbyterian  may  not 
possess  especial  interest  or  importance,  while  the  opinions 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  expressed  by  a  Presbyterian, 
are  entitled  to  respectful  consideration.  For  the  Presby- 
terian Church  is  one  of  the  great  historic  churches  of 
Christendom.  The  intelligence,  the  courage,  the  piety  of 
the  Christians  who  bear  this  honored  name  are  never  ques- 
tioned. In  the  forefront  of  every  battle  for  liberty  Pres- 
byterian warriors  contend ;  in  the  select  circles  of  accurate 
and  profound  scholarship  Presbyterian  theologians  are  wel- 
come ;  in  the  dark  places  of  the  earth,  which  are  the  habi- 
tations of  cruelty,  Presbyterian  missionaries  are  heroic  ;  and 
in  the  relief  of  poverty,  distress,  and  sickness  Presbyterian 
resources  are  a  dependence.  Christendom  cannot  be  in- 
different to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  Christendom  is 
not. 

Nor  is  the  Presbyterian  Church  indifferent  to  the  reunion 
of  Christendom.  The  standards  of  the  church  prepare  the 
way  for  such  a  reunion  by  clear,  definite,  and  catholic 
statements  as  to  the  nature  of  the  church  and  the  essential 
characteristics  of  the  ministry ;  while  repeated  deliverances 
of  the  General  Assembly — the  supreme  judicatory  of  the 

251 


252  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

church — and  the  writings  of  many  approved  divines  exhibit 
the  thought  and  the  spirit  of  Presbyterians  on  this  important 
subject.  A  Presbyterian  may,  therefore,  speak  with  author- 
ity, if  his  speech  is  in  harmony  with  the  utterances  of  the 
church,  of  which  he  may  be  only  a  very  humble  member. 

When  the  reunion  of  Christendom  comes  up  for  consid- 
eration a  Presbyterian  is  ready  to  ask  and  to  answer  three 
questions :  1 .  In  the  reunion  of  Christendom  what  does  a 
Presbyterian  anticipate  ?  2.  To  the  reunion  of  Christendom 
what  does  a  Presbyterian  contribute?  3.  With  the  reunion 
of  Christendom  what  does  a  Presbyterian  become  ? 

1.  In  the  reunion  of  Christendom  what  does  a  Presby- 
terian anticipate  ?  When  the  reunion  is  accomplished, 
what  will  be  the  condition  of  Christendom  ?  What  is  the 
ideal  ?  Can  there  be  unity  without  uniformity  ?  Must 
there  be  one  visible  organization,  like  the  Papacy  ?  Is  the 
reunion  to  be  on  the  basis  of  dogma,  of  polity,  or  of  ritual  ? 
If  dogma  is  essential  will  the  dogma  be  Pelagian,  Arminian, 
or  Calvinistic  ?  Which  one  of  the  existing  polities  is  to 
prevail  ?  Will  the  church  of  the  future  carry  a  prayer- 
book  in  her  hand  ? 

Visible  organic  union  is  the  avowed  aim  and  purpose  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  whose  antiquity,  influence, 
and  numerical  supremacy  are  universally  recognized.  The 
astute  Pontiff  who  rules  this  organization  from  the  seclu- 
sion of  the  Vatican  Palace  is  now  making  overtures  to  the 
Greek  Church,  whose  membership  is  84,000,000,  and  is 
evidently  planning  to  absorb  the  prelatical  communions  of 
every  nation.  When  this  result  is  reached,  if  it  ever  is,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  will  be  the  exponent  of  unity,  and 
the  churches  that  are  left  outside  that  fold  will  be  the  scat- 
tered sheep  in  the  wilderness. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  Church  of  Rome  has  ex- 
ceptional advantages  for  absorbing  the  rest  of  Christendom. 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN  253 

Dogma,  polity,  and  ritual  have  all  been  "  infallibly  "  deter- 
mined. From  the  verdict  of  the  church  there  can  be  no 
appeal.  Submission  must  be  absolute.  The  pope  will  rule 
over  all  as  he  now  rules  over  a  part,  and  uniformity  will  be 
evident,  even  if  it  is  the  uniformity  that  is  witnessed  when 
the  rod  of  the  master  has  silenced  all  speech. 

The  Presbyterian,  who  consults  the  Word  of  God,  and 
derives  his  expectations  from  that  inspired  teaching,  is  not 
looking  for  such  organic  reunion.  It  is  formal,  unspiritual, 
inimical  to  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and  without  the 
warrant  of  Holy  Scripture.  The  baptized  paganism  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine's  reign  was  responsible  for  the  Dark 
Ages;  and  the  baptized  paganism  of  the  Emperor  Vladi- 
mir's reign  must  answer  for  the  Cossack  and  his  career  of 
ignorance  and  superstition. 

He  who  gave  the  true  ideal  of  unity  by  saying,  "  As 
thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may 
be  one  in  us,"  did  not  encourage  the  unity  of  uniformity. 
For  the  unity  of  the  Godhead — we  say  it  reverently — is 
that  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  "These  three  are 
one  true,  eternal  God ;  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in 
power  and  glory  ;"  although  distinguished  by  their  personal 
properties. 

There  may  be  many  folds,  as  the  true  reading  of 
John  x.  16  declares,  and  yet  there  may  be  only  one  flock, 
and  one  Shepherd.  There  may  be  a  sincere  attachment 
to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Head  of  the  church,  and  a  genuine 
sympathy  with  all  who  name  that  name  divine,  along  with 
intelligent  and  allowable  preferences  for  dogmas,  polities, 
and  rituals  which  would  make  a  formal  organic  unity  im- 
possible. 

If  the  Presbyterian  is  not  looking  for  an  organic  reunion 
of  Christendom,  how  is  it  with  a  federative  reunion  ?  Within 
the  limits  of  several  of  the  historic  churches  such  a  reunion 


254  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

has  been  accomplished.  The  Presbyterian,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal,  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the  Congregational, 
and  other  churches,  have  formed  federations  for  mutual 
acquaintance,  for  the  defense  of  the  weak,  for  the  dissem- 
ination of  distinctive  opinions,  and  for  the  promotion  of 
church  unity.  It  has  been  felt,  and  properly,  that  Chris- 
tians who  are  most  nearly  allied  should  get  together  and 
exhibit  their  agreement  to  the  other  churches  and  to  the 
world.  Thus  these  federations  have  become  important 
signs  of  the  times.  They  have  already  answered  an  im- 
portant purpose,  and  are  destined  to  be  more  largely  influ- 
ential. Their  danger  lurks  in  the  tendency  to  impose  re- 
quirements, and  to  legislate  for  the  people  of  God.  This 
tendency  is  a  characteristic  of  ecclesiasticism,  and  will 
prove  destructive  of  the  true  purpose  of  federation.  The 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free  is  the  individual 
Christian's  birthright.  No  man,  or  body  of  men,  can  be 
allowed  to  take  it  from  him.  If  federation  means  confer- 
ence and  fellowship  and  work,  then  it  will  further  the  great 
cause  of  reunion ;  but  if  it  means  assertion  and  dictation 
and  undue  restraint,  it  will  only  prove  that  the  disciples  of 
Christ  are  unable  to  live  together  peacefully  when  their  liv- 
ing is  intimate  fellowship. 

Thus  far  in  their  history  these  federations  have  for  the 
most  part  avoided  legislation.  They  have  been  grand  par- 
liaments of  believers,  who  have  met  to  talk  about  the  church 
and  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  and  to  consider  what 
may  be  done  to  hasten  the  triumph  of  our  blessed  Lord. 
They  have  splendid  opportunities,  because  they  appear  as 
one  body ;  and  their  unity  gives  them  exceptional  advan- 
tages of  consideration,  and  of  enabling  them  to  issue  state- 
ments to  the  world  of  the  beliefs  and  purposes  of  large  and 
influential  bodies  of  Christians.  Thus  the  Pan-Anglican 
Council  of  1888  a.d.,  which  was  held  in  the  city  palace  of 


AS  IT  APPEARS    TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN  255 

the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  enjoys  the  rare  distinction 
of  having  issued  authoritatively  four  definite  propositions 
as  a  basis  of  reunion.  These  propositions  are  expressed  in 
clear  and  definite  terms,  and  are  the  candid  statement  of  a 
great  church.  While  we  may  dissent,  as  we  do,  from  one  of 
these  terms — that  concerning  the  "  Historic  Episcopate  " 
— let  us  not  fail  to  honor  the  spirit  that  has  reduced  the  con- 
victions of  a  noble  church  to  these  few  terms  of  reunion. 
If  other  churches  would  go  and  do  likewise,  stating  in 
simple  language  the  terms  that  each  one  regards  as  essen- 
tial, the  real  unity  that  now  exists  would  be  evident.  For 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  it  is  well  known,  has  met  the 
Lambeth  Propositions  with  a  cordial  assent  as  to  the  first 
three,  and  with  a  desire  to  discuss  the  fourth,  so  that  there 
may  be  an  intelligent  agreement  as  to  its  meaning.  This  is 
certainly  an  advance  upon  anything  that  has  hitherto  been 
known.  When  churchmen  can  reduce  the  barriers  that 
separate  them  from  others  to  one  obstacle,  never  mind  what 
that  may  be,  the  Spirit  of  our  blessed  Lord  is  certainly 
present  and  influential.  All  honor,  then,  to  the  Anglican 
Church  and  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
United  States  for  this  suggestive  leadership !  May  it  prove 
to  be  the  herald  of  many  other  messengers  of  peace,  who 
shall  bring  invitations  that  those  who  love  our  Lord  may 
reason  together! 

This  federative  reunion,  however,  must  be  the  outgrowth 
and  expression  of  Christian  love.  "  The  unity  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  bond  of  peace "  is  more  to  be  desired  than  any 
formal  compacts,  and  if  it  does  not  precede  and  accom- 
pany such  compacts  they  will  only  promote  the  bondage 
of  ecclesiasticism.  The  New  Testament  makes  very  little 
of  organization  as  such.  The  spirit  is  above  the  letter. 
"  Ubi  Christies,  ibi  ecclesia."  Learned  writers  of  all  schools 
agree  that  the  polity  of  the  apostolic  age  was  very  simple. 


256  THE  REUNION   OF   CHRISTENDOM 

Apparently  the  synagogue  order  was  perpetuated  in  the 
early  church.  The  existing  elaborate  polities  have  been  a 
development,  and  a  development  that  has  been  rapid  when 
formalism  has  prevailed. 

A  genuine  spiritual  union  is  a  present  reality  to  a  degree 
that  few  persons  appreciate.     The  one  widely  recognized 
Head  of  the  church  is  our  adorable  Redeemer,  Jesus  Christ 
the  one  common  ground  of  salvation  is  his  atoning  sacrifice 
the  one  condition  of  acceptance  is  repentance  and  faith 
and  the  one  hope  of  regeneration,  holiness,  and  heaven  is 
the  indwelling  of  the  divine  Spirit.     As  the  lamented  Dr. 
SchafI  said,  in  the  paper  read  by  him  before  the  Chicago 
Parliament  of  Religions,  "  The  church  of  Christ  has  been 
one  from  the  beginning,  and  he  has  pledged  to  her  his  un- 
broken presence  all  the  days  to  the  end  of  the  world.    The 
one  invisible  church  is  the  soul  which  animates  the  divided 
visible  churches.     All  true  believers  are  members  of  the 
mystical  body  of  Christ." 

There  can  be  no  more  satisfactory  statement  of  the 
nature  of  the  church  than  is  given  in  these  words  of  the 
seventeenth  century : 

"The  catholic  or  universal  church,  which  is  invisible, 
consists  of  the  whole  number  of  the  elect  that  have  been, 
are,  or  shall  be  gathered  into  one,  under  Christ  the  Head 
thereof ;  and  is  the  spouse,  the  body,  the  fullness  of  him 
that  filleth  all  in  all. 

"The  visible  church,  which  is  also  catholic  or  universal 
under  the  gospel — not  confined  to  one  nation,  as  before 
under  the  law — consists  of  all  those  throughout  the  world 
that  profess  the  true  religion,  together  with  their  children ; 
and  is  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  house 
and  family  of  God,  out  of  which  there  is  no  ordinary  pos- 
sibility of  salvation." 

Such  a  statement  as  that  is  true  to  the  teaching  of  Holy 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN  257 

Scripture,  and  to  history,  and  to  the  divinely  implanted 
characteristics  of  the  Christian  life.  It  is  catholic,  for  no 
exclusive  human  claims  are  pressed,  No  one  is  denied 
church  privileges  because  he  has  failed  of  a  prescribed 
mode  of  baptism,  of  an  especial  mode  of  confirmation,  or 
of  a  particular  mode  of  ordination.  It  does  not  insist  upon 
any  one  creed,  nor  upon  any  one  polity,  nor  upon  any  one 
ritual.  It  does  not  unchurch  the  Arminian,  who  cannot 
accept  the  five  points  of  Calvinism ;  nor  the  Baptist,  who 
denies  the  perpetuity  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant  in  a 
gracious  care  of  little  children ;  nor  the  prelatist,  who  has 
failed  of  ordination  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
presbytery.  It  declares  that  the  church  is  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  that  all  who  are  joined  to  him  by  faith  are 
members  of  that  body  and  thus  members  of  the  church. 
It  is  willing  to  recognize,  to  work  with,  and  even  to  unite 
with,  in  a  modified  union,  all  who  profess  and  call  them- 
selves Christians. 

This,  the  statement  claims,  is  the  divine  ideal.  For 
going,  as  it  does,  to  the  New  Testament,  the  Westminster 
Confession  hears  "  the  Wisest  of  the  wise  and  the  Holiest  of 
the  holy"  speaking  of  one  vine  and  the  many  branches,  of 
one  flock  and  one  Shepherd  and  the  many  folds ;  and  hears, 
also,  St.  Paul,  an  inspired  apostle,  who  speaks  of  the  many 
members  of  the  one  body,  whose  Head  is  Christ,  and  of 
the  household  of  God,  which  is  composed  of  a  multitude 
who  were  once  strangers  and  sojourners ;  and  listens  as 
St.  Peter,  another  inspired  apostle,  describes  the  glory  of 
that  spiritual  house  which  is  built  up  of  living  stones ;  and 
is  taught  by  St.  John,  the  inspired  seer,  who  saw  the  Holy 
City,  Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God, 
with  love  holding  together  in  perfect  harmony  the  nations 
of  them  that  are  saved,  who  have  gathered  from  the  east, 
and  from  the  west,  and  from  the  north,  and  from  the  south. 


25S  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

This  is  the  Kingdom  of  the  older  economy,  or  the  Church 
of  the  present  dispensation,  or  the  City  of  God  of  the  end- 
less ages.  The  Lord  of  life  and  glory  is  supreme  in  all 
this  realm.  His  presence  is  magnetic.  Redemption  is 
evident  everywhere.  For  whether  we  speak  of  Kingdom, 
of  Church,  or  of  City,  we  refer  to  that  one  organized  society 
whose  law,  whose  life,  whose  purpose,  are  from  him  whom 
saints  aforetime  called  Messiah,  and  who  is  now,  and  ever 
shall  be,  Jesus:  "for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their 
sins." 

The  anticipation  of  a  Presbyterian  is  simply  the  realization 
of  this  ideal.  The  unity  of  love  is  the  reunion  of  Christen- 
dom. Such  unity  may  be  trusted  to  find  its  expression  in 
dogma,  in  polity,  and  in  ritual.  There  is  a  generous  tol- 
eration of  differences  and  a  large  liberty  as  to  details  of 
organization  and  worship.  The  end  is  not  yet.  Dr.  A.  A. 
Hodge  remarked,  in  his  "  Popular  Lectures  on  Theological 
Themes,"  that  "  the  principle  of  the  union  is  spiritual  and 
vital,  and  hence  it  must  be  the  result  of  an  internal  growth. 
The  more  perfect  the  inward  life  the  more  perfect  will 
be  its  outward  expression.  The  final  external  form  of  the 
holy  catholic  church  will  never  be  reached  by  adding  de- 
nomination to  denomination.  It  will  come,  as  all  growth 
into  organized  form,  alike  in  the  physiological  and  in  the 
social  world,  comes,  by  the  spontaneous  action  of  central 
vital  forces  from  within."  Those  forces  are  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  working  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering, 
meekness,  gentleness,  and  other  gracious  results  of  the 
divine  indwelling  in  the  hearts  of  all  true  Christians.  A 
strong  churchman,  and  a  distinguished  Presbyterian,  once 
said  :  "  I  am  a  Presbyterian,  not  only  by  birth,  but  by  con- 
viction, and  yield  to  no  man  in  loyalty  to  the  denomina- 
tion in  whose  service  my  life  has  been  spent  and  in  whose 
bosom  I  hope  to  die.     But  I  do  not  expect  to  be  a  Pres- 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN  259 

byterian,  nor  anything  of  the  kind,  in  heaven.  And  as  my 
sun  grows  larger  and  more  mellow  toward  its  setting,  I 
would  gladly  exchange  everything  that  is  not  essentially 
Christian  for  a  few  of  the  days  of  heaven  on  earth,  in  the 
unity  and  peace  of  the  church  of  God,  which  he  hath  pur- 
chased with  his  own  blood."  I  believe  that  my  beloved 
and  lamented  friend,  Dr.  H.  J.  van  Dyke,  fairly  represented 
the  anticipations  of  a  Presbyterian.  Our  baptism  is  freely 
offered  to  all  believers  and  their  children.  Our  table  is 
spread  for  all  who  confess  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and 
Lord.  Our  pulpits  are  free  to  all  who  preach  Jesus  Christ, 
and  him  crucified.  We  are  ready  to  commune  with  our 
Baptist  brethren,  and  to  exchange  pulpits  with  our  Epis- 
copal brethren,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  all  breth- 
ren who  are  seeking  to  honor  Him  who  is  the  only  source 
of  life.  As  a  Presbyterian  I  am  not  conscious  that  I  place 
a  single  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  reunion  of  Christen- 
dom. I  do  not  ask  other  churches  to  become  Calvinistic, 
although  I  myself  am  Calvinistic.  I  do  not  ask  them  to 
throw  away  their  prayer-books,  although  I  myself  prefer 
free  prayer.  I  do  not  ask  them  to  dismiss  their  diocesan 
bishops,  although  I  myself  agree  with  Lightfoot,  Jacob, 
Hatch,  Stanley,  and  many  other  notable  prelatical  writers, 
that  a  diocesan  bishop  is  of  later  than  New  Testament 
date.  The  church  that  evidently  enjoys  the  presence  of 
our  Lord  is  the  church  that  I  wish  to  welcome  into  my 
fellowship.  More  than  that  I  cannot  say.  I  do  not  think 
that  I  should  be  asked  to  accept  the  distinctive  peculiarities 
of  each  church.  Rebaptism  or  reordination  would  be  an 
impeachment  of  the  baptism  and  the  ordination  that  I 
have  received,  and  that  I  regard  as  valid  and  regular.  I 
can  respect  the  convictions  of  a  brother  even  when  I  can- 
not always  agree  with  him,  and  I  can  love  him  as  a  brother 
in  Christ. 


260  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

In  this  way  the  unity  of  love  will  bind  together,  as  one 
body,  the  hands  and  the  feet,  the  eyes  and  the  ears,  that 
act  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  Him  whose  we  are  and 
whom  we  serve.  When  that  blessed  consummation  is  real- 
ized the  world  will  believe  that  the  Father  sent  the  Son,  and 
that  salvation  is  through  him.  Thus  the  prayer  of  interces- 
sion will  be  answered,  and  Christendom  will  be  one. 

2.  To  the  reunion  of  Christendom  what  does  a  Presby- 
terian contribute  ?  The  Presbyterian  Church  has  made, 
and  is  still  making,  valuable  contributions  to  the  reunion 
of  Christendom.     These  contributions  are  : 

(a)  Biblical  Christianity. — The  Presbyterian  Church  does 
not  claim  any  monopoly  in  the  ownership  or  control  of  bib- 
lical Christianity.  Yet  there  is  no  church  in  Christendom 
that  honors  the  Word  of  God  with  more  intelligent  loyalty 
than  the  Presbyterian  Church  does.  That  Word  is  author- 
itative. It  is  believed  that  a  divine  inspiration  covers  the 
entire  contents  of  that  Word,  from  Genesis  to  the  Apoca- 
lypse. That  Word  is  the  source  of  dogmatic  teaching,  of 
polity,  and  of  ritual.  The  Presbyterian  goes  to  the  Bible, 
rather  than  to  the  fathers,  and  the  saints  of  the  post-apos- 
tolic centuries,  for  his  theology  and  practical  instruction. 
For  God  speaks  in  and  through  the  Bible,  and  when  the 
mind  of  God  is  known  on  any  subject  the  last  word  has 
been  spoken.  Beyond  that,  argument  is  an  impertinence. 
Bible  reading  is  the  birthright  of  all  Presbyterians.  Every 
man  can  read  for  himself,  and  judge  for  himself.  A  Bible 
in  every  home  is  true  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Conse- 
quently the  church  is  a  biblical  church.  No  better  service 
has  been  rendered  than  this  of  giving  prominence  to  the 
Word  of  God.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  used 
ritualistic  Christianity  in  missionary  effort,  and  her  success 
in  converting  the  nations,  in  purifying  common  life,  and  in 
uniting  Christendom  has  not  been  conspicuous.     Biblical 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN         261 

Christianity  can  show  better  results.  It  is  easy  to  contrast 
the  work  of  Columba  with  that  of  the  devoted  Xavier,  and 
the  work  of  the  Pilgrims  with  that  of  the  Spanish  Jesuits. 

Biblical  Christianity  must  prevail  if  reunion  is  to  be  an 
accomplishment.  For  the  prevalence  of  biblical  Christian- 
ity is  the  only  assurance  that  Christ  will  be  known  in  all 
the  completeness  of  his  mediatorial  character ;  and  until  he 
is  thus  known  the  suggestion  of  reunion  is  an  idle  dream. 

(b)  Genuine  Catholicity. — Biblical  Christianity  leads  to  a 
genuine  catholicity.  We  can  be  satisfied  to  be  as  catholic 
as  Jesus  was,  and  we  need  not  desire  to  be  more  so.  This 
is  our  position.  If  in  this  we  err,  may  God  forgive  our  mis- 
takes. But  on  this  part  of  our  subject  it  is  not  necessary 
that  I  should  enlarge,  as  enough  has  been  said  already  to 
present  the  attitude  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

{c)  Missionary  Zeal. — It  is  as  true  in  the  church  as  it  is 
in  the  nursery  that 

"  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do." 

A  working  church  is  apt  to  be  a  church  that  is  ready  to 
meet  other  churches  in  Christian  effort.  On  the  mission- 
ary fields  men  recognize  the  help  and  comfort  of  Chris- 
tian brotherhood.  Minor  distinctions  disappear  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  common  foe.  Soldiers  of  the  Republic  may  talk 
about  the  superiority  of  their  States  in  time  of  peace  and 
inaction ;  but  when  the  battle  is  on  the  one  flag  that  com- 
mands enthusiasm  is  the  stars  and  stripes.  What  care  you 
and  I  that  this  sin-stricken  world  should  become  Presby- 
terian, Methodist,  Baptist,  or  Episcopalian?  We  want  it  to 
be  Christian,  and  for  that  we  care  more  than  for  all  other 
things  combined.  Besides,  on  the  mission  fields  there  is  a 
clear  recognition  of  the  important  fact  that  one  situation 
may  demand  one  phase  or  expression  of  the  church,  and 


262  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

another  one  quite  different.  The  poetic  Orient  should 
never  be  held  firmly  to  the  order  that  flourished  on  the 
shores  of  Boston  Bay.  Sunny  Italy  will  call  for  more  of 
song  and  of  ritual  than  is  required  in  phlegmatic  Holland. 
There  are  racial  characteristics  that  present  their  demands ; 
and  He  was  divinely  wise  who  announced  certain  principles 
for  the  government  of  his  church,  and  left  the  nations  and 
the  centuries  who  should  believe  on  him  to  a  large  liberty 
in  the  expression  of  those  principles.  All  this  becomes  evi- 
dent to  a  missionary  church  like  the  Presbyterian,  whose 
contributions  to  reunion  are  thus  of  a  most  practical  kind. 

But  time  will  not  admit  of  an  elaboration  of  these  inter- 
esting and  important  points.  Let  me  pass,  then,  in  con- 
clusion, to  raise  and  to  answer  our  third  question.  It  is 
this: 

3.  With  the  reunion  of  Christendom  what  does  a  Presby- 
terian become  ?  Why,  simply  a  recognized  member  of  the 
body  of  Christ.  Now  he  is  a  member,  but  unrecognized  by 
many  whose  churchmanship  he  is  glad  to  recognize.  Then 
the  recognition  will  be  mutual.  This  is  all  that  a  Presby- 
terian asks.  He  claims  his  rights  in  his  Father's  house — 
that  is  all.  Certainly  a  modest  demand.  He  is  not  a 
heretic,  although  he  is  so  considered  by  the  majority  of 
those  who  bear  the  Christian  name.  He  is  not  unbap- 
tized,  although  his  baptism  is  denied  by  many  whose  faith 
and  service  he  rejoices  to  honor.  He  is  not  unordained, 
although  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  is 
not  valid  ordination  in  the  estimate  of  multitudes  whose 
orders  and  sacraments  are  cordially  accepted  by  him.  A 
Presbyterian  asks  reciprocity.  Love  alone  can  secure  this 
blessed  result.  For,  as  a  holy  apostle  has  said :  "  Love 
suffereth  long,  and  is  kind ;  love  envieth  not ;  love  vaunteth 
not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up,  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly, 
seeketh  not  its  own,  is  not  provoked,  taketh  not  account 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A   PRESBYTERIAN         263 

of  evil ;  rejoiceth  not  in  unrighteousness,  but  rejoiceth  with 
the  truth ;  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all 
things,  endureth  all  things."  Add  to  the  words  of  St.  Paul 
the  gracious  announcement  of  St.  John  :  "  God  is  love  ;  and 
he  that  abideth  in  love  abideth  in  God,  and  God  abideth  in 
him."  No  more  is  needed.  For  we  have  divine  authority 
for  the  statement  that  "  in  one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptized 
into  one  body,  whether  Jews  or  Greeks,  whether  bond  or 
free ;  and  were  all  made  to  drink  of  one  Spirit." 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  reunion  must  follow : 

1.  The  prevalence  of  a  sincere  Christian  spirit.  Chris- 
tians must  trust  one  another  and  love  one  another.  With- 
out confidence  and  love  reunion  would  be  like  a  flower- 
garden  on  Vesuvius.  The  exhortation  of  the  Apostle  must 
be  met :  "  Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  anger,  and 
clamor,  and  railing,  be  put  away  from  you,  with  all  mal- 
ice :  and  be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiv- 
ing each  other,  even  as  God  also  in  Christ  forgave  you." 
Such  a  spirit  is  not  now  prevalent  in  Christendom,  and  as 
a  consequence  reunion  is  often  ridiculed  as  the  dream  of 
enthusiasts.  We  shall  do  our  best  work  for  reunion  by 
working  for  confidence  and  love.  When  Christians  trust 
one  another  and  love  one  another  reunion  will  announce 
its  presence. 

2.  The  recognition  of  the  validity  of  orders  and  ordi- 
nances whose  regularity  may  be  questioned.  This  is  the 
intelligent  toleration  that  a  Presbyterian  values.  With  this 
several  of  the  barriers  that  now  divide  Christendom  will  be 
swept  away. 

3.  The  avoidance  of  unfriendly  competition  in  mission- 
ary work,  and  the  promotion  of  comity.  The  field  is  the 
world,  and  the  destitute  regions  are  numerous.  Why  should 
churches  seem  anxious  to  crowd  one  another  in  Christian 
lands,  when  there  is  room  enough  on  the  continents  where 


264  THE  REUNION  OE  CHRISTENDOM 

heathenism  and  Mohammedanism  should  be  crowded  to 
death  ? 

4.  The  federation  for  sympathy  and  work  of  all  churches 
whose  faith  and  worship  are  the  same,  and  the  statement  of 
the  essential  and  necessary  truths  as  they  are  held.  What 
a  gain  it  would  be  if  a  church  like  the  Presbyterian  could 
formulate  a  brief  irenical  statement  of  the  truths  that  Pres- 
byterians regard  as  vital!  How  many  members  of  other 
churches  would  see  in  such  a  statement  "  a  declaration  of 
those  things  which  are  most  surely  believed  among  us"! 
We  can  sing  the  same  hymns  and  pray  the  same  prayers ; 
may  it  not  be  that  we  could  accept  the  same  creed  if  the 
creed  could  be  framed  with  simplicity  ? 

A  Presbyterian  cares  more  for  the  spirit  than  for  the 
letter.  He  is  confident  that  when  the  Lord  Jesus  controls 
the  heart  and  life  the  expression  will  be  unity,  whatever  the 
form  or  organization  may  be  ;  and  so  he  prays,  "  Thy  king- 
dom come,"  with  the  added  petition,  "Thy  will  be  done." 

For  more  than  twenty  years  of  my  pastoral  life  I  was 
permitted  to  meet  with  Christian  brethren  in  a  ministerial 
society  whose  membership  was  representative  of  seven  of 
the  great  churches  of  Christendom :  Lutheran,  Methodist 
Episcopal,  Protestant  Episcopal,  Baptist,  Congregational, 
Dutch  Reformed,  and  Presbyterian.  These  brethren  were 
earnest  men,  who  had  decided  preferences  which  they  freely 
expressed.  But  Christian  confidence  and  love  held  them 
together,  so  that  there  was  truer  unity  than  can  be  found 
in  a  presbytery,  a  conference,  or  a  diocesan  convention. 
We  often  talked  together  about  the  reunion  of  Christen- 
dom, and  we  always  agreed  that  in  our  fellowship  we  had 
such  unity  as  the  Lord  contemplated  in  his  intercessory 
prayer. 

Such  unity,  the  unity  of  confidence  and  love,  must  appear. 
For  it  we  may  work,  by  making  our  Lord  known.     For  it 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  PRESBYTERIAN         265 

we  may  pray,  as  we  plead  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  men's 
hearts  by  faith.  For  it  we  may  hope,  as  we  familiarize  our- 
selves with  the  promises  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  look  for- 
ward to  the  day  of  Christ,  which  is  the  golden  age.  When 
that  day  comes  it  will  not  find  Christians  under  one  polity 
nor  with  one  ritual.  But  it  will  find  them  at  peace  and  in 
love,  rejoicing  that  Jesus  Christ  is  honored,  and  that  the 
many  members  of  his  body,  the  church,  are  obedient  in  all 
things  to  him  who  is  the  Head. 


XI 

THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  A  DISCIPLE 

BENJAMIN  B.TYLER,  D.D., 
Of  the  Church  of  the  Disciples,  New  York. 


267 


XI 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  A  DISCIPLE 

In  this  meeting  I  speak  as  an  individual,  and  not  in 
any  formal  sense  as  a  representative  of  the  people  who  are 
known  as  Disciples  of  Christ.  Having,  however,  been  born 
of  Disciple  parents,  bred  in  a  Disciple  home,  educated  in 
a  college  under  the  control  of  Disciples,  and  having  spent 
nearly  one  third  of  a  century  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel 
with  this  people,  I  feel  that  what  I  will  say  in  this  presence 
will  be  indorsed  by  the  brethren  with  whom  in  ecclesiastical 
fellowship  I  am  most  intimately  associated. 

Permit  me,  also,  in  beginning,  to  premise  that  I  have  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  to  speak  upon  this  occasion  with  the 
understanding  that  our  utterances  are  to  be  characterized  by 
the  utmost  candor.  Each  person  will  speak  honestly  and 
boldly  what  he  thinks  concerning  the  problem  of  union; 
or,  to  change  the  phraseology,  will  present  the  problem  of 
union  as  it  appears  to  him. 

A  realization  of  the  evils  of  division  among  the  people 
of  God,  with  an  earnest  desire  for  such  a  spiritual  unity 
and  visible  oneness  as  will  please  the  Master  and  hasten 
the  conversion  of  the  world,  was  the  inspiration  of  a  move- 
ment in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  which  has 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  more  than  seven  thousand 
congregations  embracing  nearly  seven  hundred  thousand 

269 


270  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

communicants.  These  congregations  are  known  in  legal 
documents  and  in  letters  of  introduction  and  commendation 
as  simply  and  only  churches  of  Christ.  They  are  devoted 
in  large  part  to  an  attempted  solution  of  the  problem  of 
union,  as  well  as  to  the  turning  of  men  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  by  the  preaching  of  his  gospel.  These  congrega- 
tions of  Disciples  may  appropriately  be  characterized  as 
Christian  Unity  Societies.  The  problem  of  union  among 
the  people  of  God  has  ever  been — and  at  no  time  to  a 
greater  extent  than  at  this  present  moment — a  question  of 
the  deepest  interest  to  us. 

We  all  agree  in  regarding  "the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  as  containing  all  things  necessary 
to  salvation,  and  as  being  the  rule  and  ultimate  standard 
of  faith."  ("The  Historic  Episcopate,"  Charles  Wood- 
ruff Shields,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  24.)  We  stand  on  common 
ground  at  this  point,  whether  we  call  ourselves  Episcopa- 
lians, Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  or  Disciples.  To 
the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  of  Jesus  and  the 
apostles,  we  make  our  appeal  as  to  an  ultimate  authority. 
From  the  decision  of  the  Christ  and  those  who  spoke  and 
wrote  as  moved  by  his  Spirit  there  is  no  appeal,  neither  on 
this  nor  on  any  other  matter  pertaining  to  our  most  holy 
religion. 

It  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  discover  the  mind  of  the  Christ 
concerning  the  relation  in  which  he  would  have  his  people 
stand  toward  himself  and  then  toward  one  another.  As  he 
approached  the  end  of  his  mission  among  men  he  uttered 
a  prayer  in  which  he  besought  the  Father  that  those  who 
would  believe  on  him  as  a  result  of  the  teaching  of  his  elect 
ambassadors  might  all  be  one,  "  even  as  thou,  Father,  art 
in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us :  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  thou  didst  send  me."  This  prayer, 
being  a  prayer  in  behalf  of  believers,  has  for  us  in  the  pres- 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  271 

ent  emergency  a  peculiar  interest.  We  have  been  led  by 
the  testimony  of  inspired  men  to  believe  in  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  God  and  our  Saviour.  For  us,  therefore,  and  not 
merely  for  men  who  lived  in  the  long  ago,  did  the  Son  of 
God  pray.  For  us  his  desire  is,  not  was — for  he  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever — that  we  may  be  joined 
together  in  a  unity  similar  to  that  which  exists  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  this  in  order  that  "  the  world 
may  believe  that  thou  didst  send  me."  It  is  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the  prob- 
lem of  unity  and  union  among  the  people  of  God. 

This  prayer  will  yet  be  answered.  The  Master  said  at 
the  grave  of  Lazarus,  "  Thou  nearest  me  always."  In  the 
prayer  from  which  I  have  quoted,  written  in  the  seven- 
teenth chapter  of  John,  the  Christ  prayed  for  those  who 
were  his  personal  friends,  "  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as 
we  are."  The  prayer  of  Jesus  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus  we 
know  was  answered ;  the  prayer  of  the  Son  of  man  concern- 
ing the  unity  of  his  personal  friends  was  also  answered ;  so, 
too,  his  petition  in  behalf  of  those  who  "  believe  on  me  " 
will  be  answered.  We  may,  therefore,  labor  and  pray  for 
the  unity  and  union  of  believers  with  the  fullest  confidence 
that  sooner  or  later  such  a  oneness,  spiritual  and  visible,  will 
be  realized  as  will  fully  satisfy  the  desires  of  the  Master. 

When  Jesus  gave  the  great  commission  to  his  disciples  to 
go  "  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole 
creation,"  he  placed  upon  them  an  embargo,  saying,  "  But 
tarry  ye  in  the  city,  until  ye  be  clothed  with  power  from  on 
high."  Having  given  this  solemn  charge  to  his  disciples, 
with  the  limitation  just  mentioned,  we  are  told  that  "while 
he  blessed  them,  he  parted  from  them,  and  was  carried 
up  into  heaven.  And  they  worshiped  him,  and  returned  to 
Jerusalem  with  great  joy."  We  are  told,  also,  that  "  when 
the  day  of  Pentecost  was  now  come,  they  were  all  together 


272  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there  came  from  heaven  a 
sound  as  of  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all 
the  house  where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared 
unto  them  tongues  parting  asunder,  like  as  of  fire ;  and  it 
sat  upon  each  one  of  them.  And  they  were  all  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues,  as 
the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance.  Now  there  were  dwelling 
at  Jerusalem  Jews,  devout  men,  from  every  nation  under 
heaven.  .  .  .  And  they  were  all  amazed,  and  were  per- 
plexed, saying  one  to  another,  What  meaneth  this  ?  But 
others  mocking  said,  They  are  filled  with  new  wine." 
Simon  Peter,  "  a  servant  and  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ," 
explained  the  strange  scene,  saying  to  them,  "  This  is  that 
which  hath  been  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel."  He  then 
reasoned  with  the  people  out  of  the  sacred  writings  con- 
cerning Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  reaching  a  climax  when 
he  declared,  "  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore  know 
assuredly,  that  God  hath  made  him  both  Lord  and  Christ, 
this  Jesus  whom  ye  crucified.  Now  when  they  heard  this, 
they  were  pricked  in  their  heart,  and  said  unto  Peter  and 
the  rest  of  the  apostles,  Brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?  And 
Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized  every 
one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  remission 
of  your  sins ;  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  .  .  .  They  then  that  received  his  word  were  bap- 
tized :  and  there  were  added  unto  them  [unto  the  original 
one  hundred  and  twenty]  in  that  day  about  three  thousand 
souls." 

Thus  the  church  of  Christ  began  to  be  on  earth.  It  ori- 
ginated in  a  protracted  prayer-meeting  in  which  the  parti- 
cipants, we  are  assured,  were  "all  with  one  accord."  We 
are  told  that  those  who  were  turned  to  the  Christ  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  discourse  on  this  great  Pentecost  day,  immedi- 
ately after  the  coronation  of  Messiah,  "  were  together,  and 


AS  IT  APPEARS    TO   A   DISCIPLE  273 

had  all  things  common."  We  are  also  informed  that  "  day 
by  day,  continuing  steadfastly  with  one  accord  in  the  tem- 
ple, and  breaking  bread  at  home,  they  did  take  their  food 
with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God,  and 
having  favor  with  all  the  people."  Turning  another  leaf 
in  the  New  Testament,  we  are  not  surprised  when  we  read 
that  "the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one 
heart  and  soul:  and  not  one  of  them  said  that  aught  of 
the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own ;  but  they  had 
all  things  common."  It  was  at  this  time,  when  "the  mul- 
titude of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and  soul," 
that  the  historian  assures  us  there  was  "great  grace  upon 
them  all."  As  to  the  value  of  this  unity,  a  unity  in  per- 
fect accord  with  the  prayer  which  our  Saviour  offered,  we 
are  told  that  "the  number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  in 
Jerusalem  exceedingly  ;  and  a  great  company  of  the  priests 
were  obedient  to  the  faith." 

That  "  a  great  company  of  the  priests  were  obedient  to 
the  faith  "  indicates  the  well-nigh  irresistible  power  of  the 
gospel  when  presented  by  a  united  church.  Naturally  the 
priesthood  was  conservative.  The  priests  were  satisfied 
with  things  as  they  were.  They  had  interests  which  were 
sacred  because  divinely  conferred  and  on  account  of  their 
antiquity.  But  such  was  the  potency  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  presented  by  a  united  church  that  even  these 
conservative  priests  turned  from  their  self-interest  and  be- 
came "obedient  to  the  faith."  There  could  be  no  greater 
testimony  to  the  effectiveness  of  a  united  church  in  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

In  the  facts  here  recited  we  have  two  things  to  which 
especial  attention  is  directed.  We  have,  in  the  first  place,  a 
record  of  the  exact  fulfilment  of  the  prayer  of  our  Saviour 
in  behalf  of  his  personal  friends,  and  of  those  who  through 
their  influence  would  be  led  to  believe  in  him.     We  have, 


274  THE   REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

in  the  second  place,  an  indication  of  the  tremendous,  the 
well-nigh  irresistible  power  exerted  on  the  world  by  believ- 
ers when  they  were  "  perfected  together  in  the  same  mind 
and  in  the  same  judgment." 

Have  we  not  a  right,  therefore,  to  look  for  the  realiza- 
tion on  earth  among  believers  of  our  Saviour's  manifest 
desire  expressed  in  this  prayer,  and  ought  we  not  to  labor 
in  hope  that  even  in  our  day  our  eyes  may  behold  a  more 
perfect  unity  and  union  than  at  present  exists  ? 

Not  many  years  passed,  however,  until  discords  and 
divisions  began  to  manifest  themselves  among  those  early 
believers  in  Christ.  The  time  came  when  they  were  no 
longer  "with  one  accord";  when  they  no  longer  lived  in 
such  unity  as  to  have  "  favor  with  all  the  people."  How 
did  the  men  who  were  especially  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
for  their  work — how  did  the  men  who  had  the  promise  of 
the  Christ  that  they  would  be  guided  by  the  Spirit  into  all 
truth  in  the  discharge  of  the  exceedingly  difficult  duty  which 
had  been  placed  upon  them  by  their  Master — how  did  these 
men  regard  the  changed  relation  which  the  disciples  were 
coming  to  sustain  toward  one  another  ? 

Paul,  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  said  that  "it 
hath  been  signified  unto  me  concerning  you,  my  brethren, 
by  them  which  are  of  the  household  of  Chloe,  that  there  are 
contentions  among  you."  This  was  what  Paul  had  heard 
about  those  in  Corinth  "sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called 
to  be  saints."  What  had  he  to  say  to  them  concerning  this 
matter  ?  Did  he  approve  ?  Was  he  indifferent  ?  He  said 
this :  "I  beseech  you,  brethren,  through  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and 
that  there  be  no  divisions  among  you ;  but  that  ye  be  per- 
fected together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judg- 
ment." And  then,  having  mentioned  the  message  which 
he  had  received,  he  proceeds  to  describe  the  character  of 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  275 

their  divisions.  He  said  :  "  Each  one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of 
Paul ;  and  I  of  Apollos  ;  and  I  of  Cephas  ;  and  I  of  Christ." 
Having  stated  the  nature  of  the  trouble,  he  administers  a 
rebuke  in  the  words  following :  "  Is  Christ  divided  ?  was 
Paul  crucified  for  you  ?  or  were  ye  baptized  into  the  name 
of  Paul  ?  I  thank  God  that  I  baptized  none  of  you  [schis- 
matics, I  think  he  means],  save  Crispus  and  Gaius ;  lest  any 
man  should  say  that  ye  were  baptized  into  my  name,"  and 
so  there  would  be  an  apparent  reason  for  calling  some  of 
the  members  of  the  "  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth  " 
Paulites.  Then  he  recalls  to  mind — Paul  does — that  he 
"baptized  also  the  household  of  Stephanas." 

In  another  part  of  this  epistle,  referring  to  this  same 
matter,  the  Apostle  says  :  "  And  I,  brethren,  could  not  speak 
unto  you  as  unto  spiritual,  but  as  unto  carnal,  as  unto  babes 
in  Christ.  I  fed  you  with  milk,  not  with  meat ;  for  ye  were 
not  yet  able  to  bear  it :  nay,  not  even  now  are  ye  able." 
Why  were  they  so  enfeebled  ?  His  answer  is,  "  There  is 
among  you  jealousy  and  strife."  And  in  his  Second  Epis- 
tle Paul  expresses  a  fear  that  were  he  to  visit  the  church  of 
God  in  Corinth  he  would  find  among  the  "  saints  "  in  that 
city  "strife,  jealousy,  wraths,  factions,  backbitings,  whisper- 
ings, swellings,  disorders  " ;  that  he  would,  as  a  result  of 
their  unseemly  spirit  and  conduct,  be  humbled  and  caused 
to  "mourn  for  many  of  them  that  have  sinned  heretofore, 
and  repented  not."  The  presence  of  jealousy  and  strife 
among  members  of  the  church  of  God  is  evidence  of  a 
lack  of  spirituality ;  is  evidence  of  the  presence  of  carnal- 
ity. Where  there  is  jealousy  and  strife  there  is  an  absence 
of  spiritual  health  and  robustness.  "James,  a  servant  of 
God  and  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  says  that  "where 
jealousy  and  faction  are,  there  is  confusion  and  every  vile 
deed." 

If  it  was  ever  lawful  or  permissible  for  disciples  of  Christ 


276  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

to  call  themselves  by  the  names  of  men,  and  to  rally  around 
party  banners,  it  was  permissible  in  the  city  of  Corinth. 
The  men  who  were  elected  as  leaders  by  these  schismatics 
were  no  ordinary  characters.  Paul  and  Apollos  and  Peter 
are  colossal  figures  in  the  history  of  the  primitive  church-. 
Yet  Paul  spurns  the  thought  of  founding  and  leading  a  sect 
in  the  church  of  Christ,  and  says  to  these  schismatics :  Who 
are  we  ?  Paul  ?  Apollos  ?  Cephas  ?  Who  are  we  but  "  min- 
isters through  whom  ye  believed ;  and  each  as  the  Lord 
gave  to  him  ?  I  planted,  Apollos  watered ;  but  God  gave 
the  increase.  So  then  neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything, 
neither  he  that  watereth  ;  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase." 

Please  observe,  also,  that  in  the  midst  of  the  rebuke  ad- 
ministered by  this  ambassador  of  Christ  to  the  schismatics 
in  the  "  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth  "  he  specifies 
the  foundation  on  which  they  should  stand  as  one  body. 
It  is  at  the  eleventh  verse  of  the  third  chapter  of  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  that  he  declares,  "  Other  founda- 
tion can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus 
Christ." 

But  Paul  says  more  than  this.  He  does  not  simply  say, 
"  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ."  This  is  what  he  says:  "Other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid,  which 
is  Jesus  the  Christ."  The  definite  article  is  employed  by 
St.  Paul  when  he  speaks  of  the  foundation  of  the  church 
in  Corinth.  Do  you  ask  what  is  the  difference  between 
Jesus  Christ  and  Jesus  the  Christ  ?  I  reply,  what  is  the 
difference  between  George  King  and  George  the  King  ? 
In  the  one  case  you  have  a  simple  proper  name,  while  in 
the  other  you  have  an  official  designation.  The  Son  of 
Mary  is  not  simply  Jesus  Christ ;  he  is  Jesus  the  Christ. 
He  is  the  Anointed  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 
The  statement  of  Paul  is  in  harmony  with  what  the  Mas- 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  277 

ter  said  in  his  conversation  with  the  disciples  in  Caesarea 
Philippi  after  Simon  Peter  had  "answered  and  said,  Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  Jesus  said, 
"  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church."  That  is  to  say, 
on  this  great  truth,  this  central  truth  of  Christianity,  this 
primitive  creed,  this  original  confession  of  faith — on  this 
"  my  church "  shall  be  built,  and  it  will  stand  on  this 
foundation  so  solidly  that  "the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not 
prevail  against  it." 

In  the  twelfth  chapter  of  this  First  Epistle  to  the  Cor- 
inthians Paul  presents  his  idea  as  to  the  nature  of  the  unity 
which  should  prevail  among  the  people  of  God.  It  is,  he 
says,  similar  to  the  unity  which  prevails  in  the  human  body 
between  the  different  members  thereof.  He  declares  that 
"  in  one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether 
Jews  or  Greeks,  whether  bond  or  free ;  and  were  all  made 
to  drink  of  one  Spirit.  For  the  body  is  not  one  member, 
but  many.  If  the  foot  shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the 
hand,  I  am  not  of  the  body ;  it  is  not  therefore  not  of  the 
body.  And  if  the  ear  shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  eye, 
I  am  not  of  the  body ;  it  is  not  therefore  not  of  the  body. 
If  the  whole  body  were  an  eye,  where  were  the  hearing  ? 
If  the  whole  were  hearing,  where  were  the  smelling  ?  But 
now  hath  God  set  the  members  each  one  of  them  in  the 
body,  even  as  it  pleased  him.  And  if  they  were  all  one 
member,  where  were  the  body  ?  But  now  they  are  many 
members,  but  one  body.  And  the  eye  cannot  say  to  the 
hand,  I  have  no  need  of  thee:  or  again  the  head  to  the 
feet,  I  have  no  need  of  you.  Nay,  much  rather,  those 
members  of  the  body  which  seem  to  be  more  feeble  are 
necessary :  and  those  parts  of  the  body,  which  we  think  to 
be  less  honorable,  upon  these  we  bestow  more  abundant 
honor ;  and  our  uncomely  parts  have  more  abundant  come- 
liness; whereas  our  comely  parts  have  no  need :  but  God 


278  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

tempered  the  body  together,  giving  more  abundant  honor 
to  that  part  which  lacked ;  that  there  should  be  no  schism 
in  the  body ;  but  that  the  members  should  have  the  same 
care  one  for  another.  And  whether  one  member  suffereth, 
all  the  members  suffer  with  it ;  or  one  member  is  honored, 
all  the  members  rejoice  with  it.  Now  ye  are  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  severally  members  thereof."  This  was  Paul's 
notion  concerning  the  unity  which  ought  to  prevail  among 
believers.  For  this  character  of  unity  we  ought  to  labor 
and  pray  and  hope. 

At  the  present  time,  remember,  we  are  seeking  to  discover 
the  attitude  of  mind  sustained  by  inspired  men  toward  divi- 
sions among  Christians,  and  we  will  see,  as  we  rapidly  turn 
the  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  that  always  and  every- 
where they  condemned,  not  merely  as  impolitic  and  im- 
prudent, but  as  sinful  before  God,  divisions  among  those 
who  have  had  the  name  of  the  Christ  called  on  them  in 
holy  baptism. 

In  the  epistle  to  the  saints  in  Rome,  last  chapter,  the 
subject  comes  up,  and  the  Apostle  says :  "  Now  I  beseech 
you,  brethren,  mark  them  which  are  causing  the  divisions 
and  occasions  of  stumbling,  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which 
ye  learned :  and  turn  away  from  them.  For  they  that  are 
such  serve  not  our  Lord  Christ,  but  their  own  belly ;  and 
by  their  smooth  and  fair  speech  they  beguile  the  hearts  of 
the  innocent."  Can  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  mind  of 
Paul  concerning  the  evil  of  divisions  among  saints  ? 

Turn  we  now  to  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  I  ask  per- 
mission at  this  point  to  quote  the  language  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  A.  Broadus,  president  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  as  follows  :  "  What  is  the  key-note  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  ?  It  is  the  unity  of  Christians. 
The  dispute  of  many  years,  whether  Gentiles  should  be- 
come Jews,  is  not  ended,  but  the  Apostle  urges  that  the 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  279 

Christians  are  one,  Jew  or  Gentile.  That  was  the  widest 
idea  that  ever  existed  among  Christians  in  this  world. 
None  of  our  divisions  of  sect,  of  country,  or  of  race  is  half 
so  hard  to  overcome  as  was  that  question  of  the  junction 
of  Jewish  Christian  and  Gentile  Christian,  and  the  Apos- 
tle's great  thought  in  that  epistle  is  that  all  are  one  in 
Christ  Jesus.  The  epistle  was  intended,  apparently,  to  be 
sent  around  as  a  sort  of  circular  letter  to  many  churches, 
but  that  is  the  key-note."  ("  Sermons  and  Addresses," 
p.  179.) 

The  heart  of  this  epistle  is  found  in  the  fourth  chapter, 
in  which  the  Apostle  says  :  "  I  therefore,  the  prisoner  in  the 
Lord,  beseech  you  to  walk  worthily  of  the  calling  where- 
with ye  were  called,  with  all  lowliness  and  meekness,  with 
long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another  in  love ;  giving  dili- 
gence to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. 
There  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  also  ye  were 
called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling ;  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all, 
and  through  all,  and  in  all." 

The  Apostle  seems  here  to  say  to  the  saints  in  Ephesus, 
and  to  all  to  whom  this  circular  letter  would  come  :  "  Since 
you  are  members  of  one  body ;  since  you  are  animated  by 
one  Spirit ;  since  you  are  sustained  by  one  hope ;  since  you 
have  over  you  one  Lord  ;  since  you  cherish  one  faith  ;  since 
you  have  submitted  to  one  baptism;  since  you  recognize 
one  God  over  all  and  as  Father  of  all,  you  ought,  having 
so  much  in  common,  '  to  walk  worthily  of  the  calling 
wherewith  ye  were  called,  with  all  lowliness  and  meekness, 
with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another  in  love ;  giving 
diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace.' "  The  logic,  if  this  be  the  logic,  of  this  quotation 
is  quite  as  cogent,  yea,  more  powerful,  to-day  and  in  these 
ends  of  the  earth  than  at  that  remote  time  and  in  that  dis- 


280  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

tant  part  of  the  world.  Believers  here  and  now  hold  so 
many  things  in  common,  and  things  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, things  that  are  fundamental  and  essential  in  our 
religion,  that  they  ought  "  to  walk  worthily  of  the  calling 
wherewith  "  they  are  "  called,  with  all  lowliness  and  meek- 
ness, with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another  in  lore." 

May  I  pause  here,  beloved  in  the  Lord,  to  enumerate  a 
number  of  items  of  the  faith  which  are  held  in  common  by 
all  evangelical  believers  ?  We  all  hold  to  the  divine  in- 
spiration of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments;  to  the  revela- 
tion of  God  in  the  tri-personality  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit;  to  the  alone-sufficiency  and  all- sufficiency  of  the 
Bible  as  a  revelation  of  the  divine  character  and  will,  and 
as  a  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  to  the  divine  excellency 
and  worthiness  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God ;  to  the  official 
authority  and  glory  of  Jesus  as  the  anointed  Prophet  to 
teach  us,  Priest  to  intercede  for  us,  and  King  to  rule  over 
us ;  to  the  personal  and  perpetual  mission  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  convict  the  world  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judg- 
ment, and  to  dwell  in  believers  as  their  Comforter,  Strength- 
ened and  Sanctifier ;  to  the  alienation  of  the  race  from  God, 
and  their  entire  dependence  on  the  truth,  mercy,  and  grace 
of  God,  as  manifested  in  Jesus  the  Christ,  and  revealed 
and  confirmed  to  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  gospel,  for 
regeneration,  sanctification,  adoption,  and  life  eternal;  to 
the  necessity  of  faith  and  repentance  in  order  to  the  pos- 
session and  enjoyment  of  salvation  here  and  hereafter ;  to 
the  perpetuity  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  as  divine 
ordinances  to  the  end  of  time ;  to  the  obligation  to  observe 
the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Lord's  Day ;  to  the  church 
of  Christ  as  a  divine  institution,  composed  of  such  as  by 
faith  and  baptism  have  openly  confessed  the  name  of 
Christ ;  to  the  necessity  of  righteousness,  benevolence,  and 
holiness  on  the  part  of  professed  Christians,  alike  in  view 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  281 

of  their  own  final  salvation  and  of  their  mission  to  turn  the  /' 
world  to  God ;  to  the  fullness  and  freeness  of  the  salvation 
offered  in  the  gospel  to  all  who  accept  it  on  the  terms  pro- 
posed ;  to  the  final  punishment  of  the  deliberately  and  per- 
sistently ungodly  by  an  everlasting  destruction  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power. 
Being  united  in  the  belief  of  these  and  many  other  facts 
and  truths  fundamental  and  essential  in  our  religion,  we 
ought,  as  Paul  exhorted  the  saints  in  Ephesus,  "to  walk 
worthily  of  the  calling  wherewith  "  we  are  "  called,  with 
all  lowliness  and  meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing 
one  another  in  love." 

How  anxious  the  Apostle  was  concerning  the  unity  of 
believers  when  he  was  a  prisoner  in  Rome  !  He  wrote  to 
his  brethren  in  Philippi,  beseeching  them :  "  Only  let  your 
manner  of  life  be  worthy  of  the  gospel  of  Christ :  that, 
whether  I  come  and  see  you  or  be  absent,  I  may  hear  of 
your  state,  that  ye  stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one  soul 
striving  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel."  He  begs  them  to 
"have  this  mind  in  you,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Farther  along  in  the  same  epistle  he  exhorts :  "  Do  all 
things  without  murmurings  and  disputings  ;  that  ye  may  be 
blameless  and  harmless,  children  of  God  without  blemish 
in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  generation,  among 
whom  ye  are  seen  as  lights  in  the  world,  holding  forth  the 
word  of  life;  that  I  may  have  whereof  to  glory  in  the 
day  of  Christ,  that  I  did  not  run  in  vain  neither  labor  in 
vain." 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  Paul  is  led  to  express  his 
conviction  concerning  heresies  or  sects.  He  regards  sects 
as  of  the  flesh,  not  of  the  Spirit.  In  enumerating  the 
works  of  the  flesh  he  mentions  adultery,  fornication,  un- 
cleanness,  licentiousness,  idolatry,  sorcery,  enmities,  strifes, 
jealousies,  indignations,  contentions,  divisions,  sects,  envy- 


282  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

ings,  murders,  drunkenness,  and  revels.  Over  against  the 
works  of  the  flesh  he  places  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit.  Enu- 
merating the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  he  mentions  love,  joy,  peace, 
long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  and  self- 
control.  He  says  that  those  who  do  the  works  of  the  flesh 
"shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  Having  spoken 
of  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  Paul  says,  "  Against  such  there  is 
no  law." 

It  is  well,  beloved  in  the  Lord,  with  these  facts  before 
us,  that  we  should  give  not  only  attention,  but  especial  at- 
tention, to  the  problem  of  union.  Do  I  exaggerate  when 
I  say  that,  with  the  New  Testament  open  before  me,  the 
problem  of  the  unity  of  God's  people  is  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  that  of  any  other  topic  to  which  we  can  now 
give  our  attention  ?  Our  divisions  are  sinful :  Paul  says 
they  are.  Our  divisions  are  out  of  harmony  with  the  mind 
of  the  Christ:  of  this  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt. 
We  ought  to  repent  of  this  sin  as  of  all  sins.  We  ought  to 
turn  away  from  it  as  speedily  as  possible.  Having  failed 
to  realize  the  mind  of  Christ,  we  ought,  with  all  speed,  to 
place  ourselves  on  the  one  foundation  which  he  himself  has 
placed,  and  begin  "to  walk  worthily  of  the  calling  where- 
with "  we  are  called. 

Thus  far  we  have  attempted  to  discover  the  mind  of 
our  Lord  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  he  spoke  through  the 
apostles,  concerning  divisions  among  the  children  of  God. 
Sectarianism,  we  have  seen,  is  a  sin.  But  are  sectarianism 
and  denominationalism  synonymous  ?  I  think  not.  An  in- 
quiry into  the  genesis  of  our  great  Protestant  denominations 
will  show  that  they  are  so  many  efforts  which  have  been 
and  are  being  made  to  realize,  in  experience  and  conduct, 
Christianity  according  to  Christ.  The  church  was  in  the 
beginning  right  in  its  faith,  and  in  the  observance  of  the 
divinely  appointed  ordinances,  baptism  and  the  Supper  of 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  283 

the  Lord.  But  at  an  early  period  it  fell  away  from  the 
simplicity  that  is  in  Christ.  It  became  corrupt  alike  in  its 
creed  and  in  its  conduct.  The  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century  was  the  beginning  of  a  return  in  faith  and 
in  life  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  as  it  was  at  the  first.  The 
various  denominations  represent  so  many  efforts  to  realize 
in  our  individual  lives  and  in  our  associated  capacities 
Christianity  according  to  Christ.  The  fact  ought  to  be 
noted  that  the  sects  condemned  in  the  New  Testament 
were  composed  of  persons  with  their  faces  turned  away 
from  the  Captain  of  our  salvation.  They  were  departing 
from  Jesus  in  belief  and  in  behavior.  The  denominations 
to-day  are  composed  of  men  and  women  whose  faces  are 
turned  toward  the  Master ;  composed  of  persons  who  hun- 
ger and  thirst  after  righteousness  ;  composed  of  persons  who 
desire  to  realize  in  their  experiences  all  that  the  Christ  in 
his  holy  gospel  purposes  in  their  behalf.  A  wonderful  dif- 
ference this  between  sectarianism  and  denominationalism  ! 
On  one  occasion  during  the  personal  ministry  of  the  Son 
of  man,  John,  afterward  known  as  "  the  beloved,"  came  to 
him  with  a  complaint  like  this.  He  said,  "  Master,  we  saw 
one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name:  and  we  forbade  him, 
because  he  followed  not  us."  The  spirit  of  John  at  that 
time  was  essentially  sectarian,  and  he  was  promptly  re- 
buked by  Jesus,  who  said,  "Forbid  him  not:  for  there  is 
no  man  which  shall  do  a  mighty  work  in  my  name,  and  be 
able  quickly  to  speak  evil  of  me."  On  another  occasion  the 
same  spirit  was  manifested  by  John  and  his  brother  James. 
It  was  the  occasion  of  the  Master's  last  journey  to  the 
Holy  City.  "  He  steadfastly  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem, 
and  sent  messengers  before  his  face:  and  they  went,  and 
entered  into  a  village  of  the  Samaritans,  to  make  ready  for 
him.  And  they  did  not  receive  him."  Why  ?  "  Because 
his  face  was  as  though  he  were  going  to  Jerusalem.     And 


284  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

when  his  disciples  James  and  John  saw  this,  they  said,  Lord, 
wilt  thou  that  we  bid  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven,  and 
consume  them  ?  But  he  turned,  and  rebuked  them."  In 
this  there  was  not  only  a  manifestation  of  the  spirit  of  sec- 
tarianism, but  it  was  manifested  in  its  most  intense  and  un- 
reasoning form.  Sectarianism  is  a  spirit.  It  may  exist  with 
denominationalism.  It  does ;  but  it  is  not  an  essential  part 
of  denominationalism. 

I  find  in  the  Independent  of  June  21,  1894,  an  article 
on  "  The  Reunion  of  Christendom,"  by  Percy  L.  Parker, 
in  which  he  refers  to  an  address  delivered  by  Dr.  Clifford 
in  his  church  in  Westbourne  Park,  London.  In  this  dis- 
course Dr.  Clifford  defines  the  difference  between  denomi- 
nationalism and  sectarianism  substantially  as  follows :  "  De- 
nominations were  organizations  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
the  presentation  of  particular  truths  which  had  either  been 
hidden  or  misrepresented.  Sectarianism  is  exclusiveness. 
Such  a  spirit  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christ."  These 
words  of  Dr.  Clifford  present  my  thought. 

The  Protestant  denominations,  as  has  been  remarked, 
have  their  faces  turned  toward  the  Son  of  God.  I  think 
that  we  can  all  say,  with  Paul:  "Brethren,  I  count  not 
myself  yet  to  have  apprehended :  but  one  thing  I  do,  for- 
getting the  things  which  are  behind,  and  stretching  forward 
to  the  things  which  are  before,  I  press  on  toward  the  goal 
unto  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
And  what  is  true  of  us  as  individuals  is  quite  true  of  the 
aggregations  of  imperfect  but  aspiring  men  massed  together 
as  denominations.  Thus  our  denominations,  as  I  conceive, 
originated.  This  is  their  aim  and  their  attitude.  It  is  well 
that  we  should  note  carefully  the  distinction  between  sec- 
tarianism and  denominationalism.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
denominationalism,  more  or  less  marked,  will  continue  in 
the  church  of  Christ  to  the  end  of  time.    But  is  it  not  pos- 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  2S5 

sible  to  exorcise  the  sect  spirit  ?     I  believe  that  it  is,  and 
for  this  I  pray. 

Another  distinction  which  it  is  important  to  note  is  the 
difference  between  Christian  unity  and  church  union.  There 
is  not  a  word  in  the  New  Testament,  that  I  have  been  able 
to  discover,  on  the  subject  of  church  union ;  but  there  are 
many  words  on  the  subject  of  Christian  unity,  or  the  unity 
of  those  who  believe  in  Christ.  Jesus  prayed  for  the  unity 
of  believers;  he  prayed  only  inferentially,  if  at  all,  for 
church  union.  Do  we  not  err,  therefore,  when  in  our  at- 
tempted solution  of  the  confessedly  difficult  problem  we 
place  emphasis  on  church  organization  and  order  ?  We 
have  in  the  New  Testament  the  model  of  unity  to  which 
we  should  aspire ;  and  from  that  model  we  can  learn  but 
little — very  little — on  these  topics  which  to  some  of  us 
seem  to  be  subjects  of  prime  importance. 

Dr.  Shields,  in  his  book  on  "  The  Historic  Episcopate," 
says  (p.  3),  referring  to  the -church  as  it  was  "in  the  first 
century,"  that  "  in  that  one  Catholic  Apostolic  Church  we 
have  an  example,  a  model  of  church  unity,  not  only  as 
consistent  with  Christian  unity,  but  as  expressing  and  main- 
taining it."  Looking  at  this  model,  we  learn  but  little  on 
the  subject  of  organization.  The  life  of  the  church  was 
benevolent.  The  poor  were  cared  for.  The  gospel  was 
preached  to  those  dead  in  sin.  The  organization  of  the 
church  which  is  "  a  model  of  church  unity  "  was  simply 
congregational.  The  character  of  the  unity  "  in-  that  one 
Catholic  Apostolic  Church  "  was  a  simple  and  hearty  devo- 
tion to  the  Son  of  God. 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Field  well  says,  in  his  paper,  the  Evan- 
gelist, for  March  15,  1894,  speaking  on  the  text,  "They 
were  all  with  one  accord  in  one  place  "  :  "  How  came  they 
there  ?  They  needed  no  compulsion  nor  persuasion.  It 
was  not  a  pressure  from  without,  but  the  attraction  within. 


286  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

They  were  drawn,  not  driven.  It  was  because  there  was 
one  love  in  every  heart  that  they  rushed  together  as 
brothers  rush  into  each  other's  arms. 

"  That  is  the  whole  story.  One  overmastering  devotion 
molded  all  hearts  into  one.  This  was  not  the  power  of 
a  man.  Here  and  there  at  intervals  in  the  ages  there  had 
been  men  whose  genius  gave  them  a  peculiar  fascination 
over  their  fellows,  so  that  they  seemed  to  have  a  natural 
power  of  command  that  others  must  obey.  But  the  love 
of  the  disciples  for  their  Master  cannot  be  explained  by 
any  intellectual  superiority,  nor  even  by  moral  greatness. 
It  was  the  wonderful  Personality  of  a  Being  who  had  ap- 
peared among  men,  and  suffered  and  died  and  ascended 
to  heaven.  He  was  no  longer  among  his  disciples,  but  the 
impression  of  his  life  was  so  increased  by  his  death  that  he 
was  even  more  in  their  minds  and  hearts  than  when  he  was 
yet  with  them.  While  he  was  living  those  of  his  own  house- 
hold had  their  jealousies  and  rivalries  and  petty  ambitions ; 
but  all  these  were  hushed  when  they  sat  with  him  at  the 
table  for  the  last  time.  And  now,  as  they  came  together, 
he  seemed  to  be  in  the  midst  of  them  ;  they  caught  his  eye  ; 
they  heard  his  voice  asking,  '  Will  ye  go  away  ?  '  The  spell 
of  his  mighty  presence  was  on  them  still." 

It  is  clear  that  the  unity  of  "  that  one  Catholic  Apostolic 
Church,"  which,  as  Professor  Shields  says,  furnishes  "an 
example,  a  model  of  church  unity,"  was  Christian  unity, 
that  is,  unity  on  Christ,  in  Christ,  under  Christ,  in  obedi- 
ence to  Christ,  in  fellowship  with  Christ ;  a  unity  of  which 
the  man  Christ  Jesus  was  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  be- 
ginning and  the  end,  the  center  and  the  circumference.  I 
see  no  more  in  it  than  this,  but  this  is  more  than  we  have 
yet  attained  unto. 

If  we  will  only  permit  him,  the  Master,  in  a  single  sen- 
tence, will  solve  this  problem  for  us.     He  said,  "  And  I,  if 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  287 

I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  my- 
self." If  men  are  drawn  toward  Christ  they  are  necessarily 
drawn  toward  one  another.  The  more  intimate  their  connec- 
tion with  the  Lord  Jesus  the  more  closely  they  come  into 
fellowship.  Alexander  Campbell  said,  in  1837,  that  "it  is 
the  image  of  the  Christ  the  Christian  looks  for  and  loves, 
and  this  does  not  consist  in  being  exact  in  a  few  items,  but 
in  general  devotion  to  the  whole  truth  as  far  as  known." 
("Millennial  Harbinger,"  1837,  p.  412.) 

The  practical  solution  of  the  problem  now  before  us  is 
to  be  found,  in  the  first  place,  in  a  more  intimate  fellow- 
ship on  the  part  of  individual  believers  with  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Having  attained  this,  the  form  of  our  organization  for  wor- 
ship and  work  will  take  care  of  itself.  What  I  insist  upon 
is,  that  we  shall  take  our  stand  close  to  the  Teacher,  and 
looking  up  into  his  face  receive  from  his  lips  right  doctrine, 
and  drinking  in  his  spirit  learn  to  order  our  lives  according 
to  the  perfect  pattern  which  he  himself  furnished.  This  is 
the  first  thing  to  do. 

Permit  me  again  to  quote  Professor  Shields.  He  says, 
in  "  The  Historic  Episcopate  "  (p.  8) :  "  Absolute  uni- 
formity is  not  possible  either  in  the  world  of  nature  or  of 
grace.  According  to  the  chosen  metaphors  of  Scripture, 
the  church  is  one  vine,  but  with  different  branches;  one 
body,  but  with  various  members  ;  one  building,  but  of  com- 
posite structure.  In  political  society  we  see  the  greatest 
variety  of  classes,  parties,  and  opinions :  aristocratic,  dem- 
ocratic, republican,  socialist,  populist ;  no  one  of  them  ab- 
sorbing or  exterminating  the  rest.  As  little  in  religious 
society  may  we  hope  to  find  all  Christians  at  once  becom- 
ing Baptists  or  Congregationalists  or  Methodists  or  Presby- 
terians or  Episcopalians  or  Romanists."  But  can  we  not, 
for  the  sake  of  the  cause  which  cost  the  Son  of  God  his  life, 
agree  that  we  will  cease  to  be  Baptists,  Methodists,  Congre- 


288  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

gationalists;  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Romanists,  and 
that  we  will  be  always  and  everywhere  simply  Christians  ? 
This  was  sufficient  for  Paul.  It  satisfied  the  early  disciples. 
Ought  this  not  to  be  sufficient  for  us  ? 

Let  us  again  hear  Professor  Shields.  He  says :  "  Much 
less  could  they  be  made  alike  by  any  civil  or  ecclesiastical 
process.  The  experiment  of  enforced  uniformity  has  been 
tried  for  several  hundred  years  in  Episcopal  England  and 
Presbyterian  Scotland,  with  only  a  brood  of  nonconform- 
ing sects  growing  up  around  both  establishments.  The 
same  lesson  is  taught  us  here  by  the  conflict  of  usage  with 
rubrics,  by  the  disuse  of  directories,  and  by  the  rise  of 
heresy  under  the  strictest  creeds  and  confessions.  All  ex- 
perience shows  that  a  rigid  uniformity  in  doctrine  and  ritual 
could  only  breed  dissent  and  schism,  and  issue  in  renewed 
failure." 

Dr.  Parkhurst  well  says,  in  a  sermon  delivered  in  the 
Madison  Square  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York,  March  4, 
1894,  concerning  the  disciples  who  ''were  abiding  with 
such  perfection  of  accord  on  the  eve  of  Pentecost,"  that 
"  individual  tastes,  particular  ways  of  looking  at  things,  dis- 
tinctive modes  of  apprehending  Christ,  and  characteristic 
methods  of  interpreting  his  words,  were  felt  to  be  so  far  off 
the  main  line  of  concern  that  they  had  no  effect  to  divide 
or  disintegrate.  The  relations  of  Christian  fellowship  were 
founded  in  that  which  was  distinctly  and  essentially  per- 
sonal, and  with  that  personal  basis  nothing  of  a  foreign 
nature  was  allowed  to  interfere  or  to  intermix.  Of  course 
they  did  not  all  look  at  things  in  the  same  way,  and  of 
course  they  could  not  all  express  themselves  in  the  same 
way,  but  that  was  not  a  fact  that  touched  upon  the  accord 
with  which  they  continued  to  labor,  wait,  and  pray  together. 
There  was  to  them  just  one  engrossing  reality,  and  that 
was  their  individual  vital  relation  to  Jesus  Christ ;  and  so 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  289 

engrossing  was  that  that  no  other  consideration  was  able 
to  count  or  signify. 

"There  was  no  suggestion  of  having  one  church  for  the 
gifted  disciples  and  another  for  the  unschooled ;  one  for  the 
rich  and  another  for  the  impecunious ;  one  for  the  Peters 
who  could  put  their  loyalty  to  Jesus  in  one  form  of  confes- 
sion, and  another  for  the  Thomases  who  found  it  a  little 
difficult  to  phrase  their  loyalty  to  Jesus  in  quite  the  Petrine 
form  of  declaration.  It  was  with  them  all  purely  a  matter 
of  personal  fellowship,  founded  exclusively  in  the  common 
commitment  of  themselves  to  their  risen  and  ascended 
Lord." 

It  must  be  apparent  that,  as  I  see  the  problem  of  union 
among  believers,  it  is  essential  in  order  to  its  solution  that 
the  divine  Man,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  shall  be  made  the  cen- 
ter of  authority  in  all  things  appertaining  to  our  spiritual 
life.  In  all  things  the  Christ  should  have  the  preeminence. 
This  is  the  starting-point.  He,  and  he  alone,  is  to  be 
heard  in  all  that  relates  to  doctrine  and  deed. 

It  appears  to  me  that  believers  ought  to  be  able  to  unite 
on  the  primitive  creed,  the  primitive  ordinances,  and  the 
primitive  life.  If  any  inquires,  What  do  you  mean  by  the 
primitive  creed,  the  primitive  ordinances,  and  the  primitive 
life  ?  I  reply  : 

By  the  primitive  creed  is  meant  a  belief  in  the  heart  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  and  the  only 
and  all-sufficient  Saviour  of  men.  This  was  the  creed  of 
the  apostolic  church.  This  creed  received  the  sanction  of 
our  Lord  Jesus.  All  evangelical  believers  can  subscribe  to 
it.  It  is  simple,  clear,  definite,  comprehensive.  It  declares 
the  nature  and  the  official  character  of  the  author  and  the 
finisher  of  the  faith  in  words  with  which  the  Head  of  the 
body  which  is  the  church  is  entirely  satisfied.  As  to  nature 
it  declares  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God.     As  to  his  official 


290  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

character  it  declares  that  he  is  the  Christ,  that  is  to  say,  the 
Anointed.  Jesus  was  anointed,  as  Simon  Peter  affirmed 
at  the  house  of  Cornelius,  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and  with 
power.  In  Nazareth,  in  the  synagogue,  he  claimed  this 
anointing.  He  is  our  anointed  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King. 
As  Prophet  he  has  authority  to  teach;  as  Priest  it  is  his 
prerogative  to  act  as  mediator  between  God  and  man ;  as 
King  it  is  his  right  to  rule  in  and  to  reign  over  men.  To 
subscribe  to  this  primitive  creed  intelligently  is  to  surrender 
intellect,  heart,  will,  and  life  to  Jesus. 

By  the  primitive  ordinances  is  meant  baptism  and  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord.  If  you  ask  me  to  define  baptism  I 
say  in  the  beginning  it  was  an  immersion  in  water  of  be- 
lievers in  Christ,  in  obedience  to  our  Lord's  command,  and 
into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  It  was  such  a  surrender,  open,  formal,  to  him 
who  possesses  all  authority  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  as  carried 
with  it,  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  an  assurance  of  accep- 
tance with  God ;  and  so  in  the  New  Testament  obedience 
to  the  command  "  Be  baptized  "  is  connected  with  "  shall 
be  saved."  It  is  said  to  be,  when  preceded  by  genuine 
repentance,  "for  the  remission  of  sins."  It  is  not  a  regen- 
erating ordinance.  Persons  who  under  the  ministry  of  the 
apostles  were  baptized  were  so  far  regenerated  by  the  Word 
and  Spirit  of  God  that  their  intellects  were  convinced  con- 
cerning the  claims  of  the  Messiah,  their  hearts  were  stirred 
by  the  relation  which  he  assumed  to  sustain  toward  men, 
their  wills  were  subdued  by  his  dominating  love,  and  they 
were  willing  to  give  themselves  to  him  in  an  everlasting 
covenant.  So,  precisely,  baptism  ought  to  be  regarded  and 
used  to-day :  not  as  a  regenerating  ordinance,  as  it  was  not 
in  the  beginning,  but  as  a  command  to  which  obedience  is 
rendered  from  the  heart,  and  in  which  the  person  says, 
"  Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself  to  thee."    There  is  no  dispute 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A  DISCIPLE  291 

about  this  being  baptism.     On  this  ground  we  are  out  of 
the  region  of  controversy. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  attempt  a  definition  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  This  is  a  feast  of  love.  It  is  for  those 
whose  hearts  are  drawn  toward  the  Christ  by  his  infinite 
love,  manifested  toward  them  in  his  life,  but  especially  in 
his  atoning  death.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  observed 
by  the  use  of  bread  and  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  with  the  use 
of  the  words  of  institution  employed  in  the  beginning  by 
the  Master  of  the  feast.  It  is  a  sweet  and  solemn  memorial 
service,  dear  to  every  truly  Christian  heart. 

These  seem  to  be  the  only  ordinances  which  belonged 
to  the  Christian  communities  in  the  beginning,  and  so  far 
as  I  know  they  are  the  only  ordinances  to  which  the  Christ 
requires  now  that  we  shall  give  devout  attention. 

By  the  primitive  life  is  meant  a  life  patterned  after  the 
life  of  Him  "  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his 
mouth  " ;  a  life  patterned  after  the  example  furnished  by 
Him  who  was  "tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet 
without  sin  "  ;  a  life  after  the  pattern  presented  by  the  Man 
of  Nazareth,  who,  having  been  anointed  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  power,  "went  about  doing  good."  It  is 
not  a  life  lived  according  to  inflexible  rules,  in  which  there 
is  a  "  Thou  shalt "  and  "  Thou  shalt  not "  at  every  step. 
The  rule  of  the  Christian  life  may  be  expressed  in  one 
word — "  love."  Love  toward  God  and  love  toward  man, 
expressing  itself  in  word  and  deed,  is  the  love  to  which  I 
refer. 

There  are  probably  objections  in  the  minds  of  some  to 
this  simple  basis  of  union.  The  first,  doubtless,  will  be  that 
"  this  is  well  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  what  have  you  to  say," 
says  some  one,  "  concerning  organization  ?  "  In  reply  I 
have  to  say  simply  this:  that  the  life  generated  and  nur- 
tured as  above  indicated  may  be  trusted  to  assume  a  form 


292  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

that  will  be  most  befitting.  We  are  not  far  enough  along 
in  the  study  of  the  problem  of  union  to  enter  upon  a  serious 
discussion,  so  it  appears  to  me,  of  these  comparatively  un- 
important matters. 

A  second  objection  will,  it  is  probable,  relate  to  what  I 
have  said  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  Upon  this  point  I 
wish  to  speak  very  deliberately,  with  a  judicial  fairness,  and 
with  unswerving  loyalty  to  Jesus  my  Lord.  The  subject 
of  baptism  may  be  treated  in  one  of  three  ways : 

1 .  It  may  be  discarded  altogether.  The  passages  of  the 
New  Testament  which  speak  of  baptism  may,  practically, 
be  expunged.  This  we  dare  not  do.  A  solemn  and  awful 
curse  is  pronounced  on  the  man  who  takes  from  the  Word 
of  the  Lord. 

2.  We  may  treat  baptism  as  a  thing  indifferent.  We 
may  say,  in  effect,  to  inquirers,  "You  may  be  baptized  or 
not,  as  you  prefer.  True,  our  Lord  commanded  penitent 
believers  to  be  baptized,  but  that  makes  no  difference.  It 
is  a  matter  of  no  importance."  But  this  course  we  cannot 
take  with  the  New  Testament  open  before  our  eyes.  Jesus 
said,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved." 
Simon  Peter,  a  servant  and  an  apostle  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
said,  "  Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  remission  of  your  sins."  The 
same  ambassador  for  Christ,  on  another  occasion,  said, 
"Baptism  doth  also  now  save  us."  The  devout  Ananias 
said  to  believing,  penitent  Saul,  "Arise,  and  be  baptized, 
and  wash  away  thy  sins."  Whatever  may  be  the  exact 
meaning  of  these  words  it  is  certain  that  fidelity  to  the 
Son  of  God  is  not  compatible  with  a  careless,  not  to  say 
contemptuous,  treatment  of  this  ordinance  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  utterances  of  the  creeds  of  Christendom  are  in  har- 
mony with  this  idea  of  the  dignity  and  importance  of  bap- 
tism.   The  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 


AS  IT  APPEARS   TO  A   DISCIPLE  293 

says,  for  instance,  that  it  is  "a  great  sin  to  contemn  or 
neglect  this  ordinance." 

3.  Or  we  may  seek  to  understand  the  mind  of  Christ 
concerning  baptism,  and  in  faith  and  humility  conform  to 
his  expressed  will.  The  immersion  of  penitent,  believing 
souls  in  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  into  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
is  recognized  by  all  evangelical  Christians  as  valid  baptism. 
This  practice  is  not  now,  and  never  has  been,  in  debate. 
Affusion  is  in  dispute.  The  baptism  of  infants  is  now,  and 
has  been  from  the  beginning,  a  subject  of  controversy. 
The  Disciples,  then,  on  this  subject  occupy  a  position  out- 
side the  field  of  controversy,  and  at  the  same  time  maintain 
their  allegiance  to  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Excuse  me  for  speaking  at  so  great  a  length.  I  do  not 
see  how  I  could  have  presented  "  The  Reunion  of  Chris- 
tendom as  it  Appears  to  a  Disciple  "  in  briefer  space  than 
I  have  employed  on  this  occasion. 

If  any  should  think  that  I  have  spoken  too  plainly,  es- 
pecially on  the  matter  of  baptism — that  I  have  almost  ex- 
hibited the  spirit  of  the  polemic  or  the  dogmatist  in  what 
I  have  just  uttered — I  beg  to  remind  you  that  in  the  early 
part  of  this  address  I  said,  "  I  have  accepted  the  invitation 
to  speak  upon  this  occasion  with  the  understanding  that  our 
utterances  are  to  be  characterized  by  the  utmost  candor." 
I  have  simply  spoken  as  an  honest  man  to  honest  men. 
So  far  from  a  desire  to  maintain  stubbornly  the  positions 
set  forth  in  this  address,  particularly  on  the  subject  of  the 
basis  of  union,  I  wish  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  what 
has  here  been  said  is  tentative.  I  will  be  more  than  pleased 
to  surrender  the  position  I  now  occupy,  and  to  a  frank  ex- 
pression of  which  you  have  just  listened,  when  I  see  that 
another  is  more  in  harmony  with  the  mind  of  our  blessed 
Lord  as  expressed  in  the  New  Testament.     The  problem 


294  THE   REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

before  us  has  not  yet  been  solved,  neither  by  Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  Disciples,  nor  any  other. 
We  are  respectively  contributing  what  we  can  to  its  solu- 
tion. Doubtless  many  things  are  to  be  learned  before  we 
"  grow  up  in  all  things  into  him,  which  is  the  Head,  even 
Christ."  It  is  simply  certain  that  before  we  realize  in  our 
experience  the  answer  of  our  Lord's  prayer  for  unity  much 
remains  to  be  said. 

May  the  God  of  all  goodness  so  use  the  words  spoken 
in  this  conference  that  the  cause  of  unity  among  believers 
may  be  promoted,  the  turning  of  the  world  to  Christ  be 
hastened,  and  the  name  of  our  Father  be  glorified  among 
men  !      Amen. 


XII 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS 
TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY 


Missionary  to  the  Higher  Classes  of  China. 


295 


XII 


THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM  AS  IT  APPEARS  TO 
A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY 

It  is  with  extreme  regret  that  our  discussions  here  on  the 
reunion  of  Christendom  are  to  be  deprived  of  the  presence 
of  the  dean  of  the  Cambridge  Episcopal  Divinity  School, 
one  whose  ability  to  discuss  the  question  from  an  Episcopal 
point  of  view  is  fully  recognized  by  this  gathering.  As  an 
old  college  friend,  and  as  one  who  has  studied  the  question 
for  years  from  amid  the  demands  of  the  missionary  work  in 
China,  I  gladly  accept  this  opportunity  to  argue  for  the  re- 
union of  Christendom  on  the  basis  of  episcopacy,  or,  more 
strictly,  the  Historic  Episcopate.  Though  a  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  it  will  be  my  purpose,  in  arguing  for 
theories,  to  be  true  to  facts  and  just  to  the  views  of  others. 

In  the  reunion  of  Christendom  there  are  many  who  sim- 
ply seek  and  desire  a  union  which  is  spiritual  and  internal, 
without  form  or  organization.  Others  go  a  step  forward 
and  desire  a  union  that  is  external  as  well  as  internal,  or- 
ganic as  well  as  spiritual,  an  embodiment  as  well  as  a  feel- 
ing. In  this  class  there  are  those  who  simply  believe  that 
the  only  form  of  union  is  an  agreement  on  the  book,  each 
Christian  alike  accepting  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  authority 
and  teacher ;  and  this  was  the  first  proposition  of  agreement 
in  church  union  as  proposed  in  1888  by  the  Lambeth  Con- 
ference of  one  hundred  and  forty-five  Pan- Anglican  bishops. 
Others  in  this  class  seek  for  an  agreement  not  only  on  the 

297 


2y8  THE   REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

book,  but  on  the  creeds  expressing  the  main  doctrines  of 
that  book ;  and  so  the  Lambeth  Conference  makes  for  its 
second  proposition  the  Apostles'  and  Nicene  Creeds  as  the 
doctrinal  basis  of  agreement.  Some  might  desire  an  agree- 
ment on  other  doctrines  and  a  fuller  creed,  but  the  Epis- 
copal body  is  content  in  its  scheme  for  union  with  these 
two  creeds,  at  least  so  far  as  any  doctrinal  expression  is  con- 
cerned. Going  one  step  farther,  many  Christians  desire  an 
agreement  not  only  on  the  book  and  the  creed,  but  on  the 
sacred  rites  to  be  observed ;  and  so  this  same  conference 
proposes  as  its  third  point  of  organic  agreement  the  two 
sacraments,  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Roman 
Catholics  might  desire  more  sacraments,  but  these  two  are 
here  proposed  as  the  number  to  be  first  agreed  upon. 
Finally,  there  is  with  many  a  desire  to  agree  not  only  on 
the  book,  the  creed,  and  the  rites,  but  on  the  organization ; 
and  so  the  fourth  proposition  of  the  Lambeth  Conference 
is  the  Historic  Episcopate.  It  is  merely  a  question  as  to 
how  much  shall  be  required  in  the  proposed  agreement. 
Some  desire  even  more  agreement  and  others  less ;  but 
these  four  are  the  clear,  logical,  consistent,  and  even  gen- 
erous propositions  of  agreement — "  a  basis,"  as  they  call  it, 
"on  which  approach  may  be,  by  God's  blessing,  made 
toward  home  reunion,"  and,  we  would  add,  toward  the  re- 
union of  all  Christendom. 

In  the  discussions  which  have  followed  since  1888  it  is 
the  fourth  essential — the  Historic  Episcopate — which,  in 
the  language  of  Bishop  Huntington,  is  "the  crux"  in  the 
declaration.  Therefore,  in  the  present  paper,  we  will  limit 
ourselves  to  the  point  of  agreement  on  which  there  is  most 
disagreement.  Agreeing,  all  of  us,  on  the  necessity  of  spirit- 
ual union,  and  agreeing,  most  of  us,  on  the  other  features 
of  the  spiritual  embodiment — the  one  organic  visible  church 
— it  remains  to  see  if  we  cannot  also  agree  on  the  form  of 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    299 

the  church  as  represented,  not  by  the  Presbyterian  Church 
or  the  Congregational  churches  or  even  the  Episcopal 
Church,  but  by  what  is  called,  though  needing  explanation, 
the  Historic  Episcopate.  Those  who  laugh  at  the  proposi- 
tion are  generally  those  who,  not  only  by  preconception,  but 
by  preadoption,  adhere  to  some  other  ecclesiastical  form, 
and  so  much  so  that  if  others  will  not  yield  to  them  then 
the  present  divisions  of  Christendom  must  be  preferred  to 
the  proposed  unification.  It  is  organizations  which  rival 
and  clash  with  each  other  that  cause  the  division,  rather 
than  any  individual  unwillingness  to  cultivate  socially  and 
emotionally  a  broad  and  indefinite  kind  of  fellowship. 
Therefore  any  union  which  deals  only  with  the  individual, 
and  not  with  individuals  combined  in  a  society ;  which  con- 
siders merely  "  the  kingdom  of  God  within  you,"  and  not 
the  actual,  visible,  tangible  organization,  can  never  secure 
the  reunion  of  Christendom  in  just  that  place  where  there 
is  most  disunion,  namely,  in  the  diverse,  competing  organ- 
izations known  as  denominations.  The  proposition  of  the 
Anglican  communion  is  real  church  union,  not  by  all  other 
denominations  joining  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  by  all  of 
them  together  agreeing  to  accept,  first  of  all,  the  episcopate, 
and  then  the  episcopate  which  is  historic. 

History  is  the  key-word  to  Christian  doctrine,  and  so 
equally  to  the  Christian  ministry  and  the  Christian  church. 
Anything  not  based  on  facts,  on  history,  is  not  needed  to- 
day amid  the  uncertainty,  the  vagueness,  and  the  doubts 
which  permeate  all  our  social  and  religious  life.  The  only 
truth  which  has  won  through  all  the  ages  the  admiration 
and  loyal  service  of  mankind  has  been  not  so  much  the 
truth  of  speculation  and  dogma  as  the  truth  of  history,  the 
truth  of  actual  facts. 

Here,  then,  is  our  reason  for  defending  in  the  cause  of 
union  the  Historic  Episcopate.     It  is  something  historical 


300  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

and  real,  rather  than  something  merely  speculative.  The 
only  thing  to  be  sure  of  is  the  actual  facts,  the  true  history. 
Therefore  most  of  our  examination  must  deal  with  the  his- 
tory :  first  the  facts  and  then  the  theory ;  first  true  history 
and  then  true  ecclesiastics. 

In  Christendom  at  the  present  time  the  episcopate  exists 
in  a  portion  of  the  Protestant  churches,  in  the  Latin  Church, 
and  in  eight  Oriental  churches.  It  is  as  a  system  in  over- 
whelming majority,  while  less  than  four  hundred  years  ago 
it  was  the  only  church  system  in  existence.  Trace  the  line 
back  for  eighteen  centuries,  and  throughout  all  this  time, 
under  varying  conditions,  the  only  church  system  steadfastly 
maintained  has  been  the  episcopate ;  while  at  the  outset  of 
this  long  period,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century,  it  was 
in  strong  and  growing  power.  Even  if  we  should  fail  to 
find  it  before,  it  yet  has  the  only  worthy  claim  of  all  the 
ecclesiastical  systems  to  be  termed  historic. 

As  various  questions  of  biblical  criticism,  such  as  genuine- 
ness, authenticity,  and  canonicity,  depend  on  the  testimony 
of  the  fathers,  so  we  may  equally  rely  on  their  testimony 
for  the  actual  facts  concerning  the  organization  of  the  early 
church,  though  we  are  by  no  means  bound  to  accept  their 
personal  opinions  on  this  or  any  other  question.  Though 
the  episcopacy  of  their  day  may  afterward  have  been  modi- 
fied and  expanded,  yet  the  existence  of  the  principle  of  epis- 
copacy is  all  that  concerns  us  in  the  present  discussion. 

The  evidence  at  the  close  of  the  second  century  centers 
around  three  names,  representing  different  sections  of  the 
church.  Tertullian  of  Carthage,  about  200  a.d.,  clearly 
distinguishes  between  the  bishop  and  presbyter,  and  de- 
mands that  all  heretical  teachers  should  show  that  "their 
first  bishop  had  for  his  ordainer  and  predecessor  some  one 
of  the  apostles  or  of  the  apostolic  men  "  ;  and  he  adds,  "  For 
in  this  way  do  the  apostolic  churches  reckon  their  origin." 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3°l 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  about  190  a.d.,  though  dealing 
mainly  with  other  questions,  yet  says  :  "  The  Apostle  John, 
when  he  settled  at  Ephesus,  went  about  the  neighboring 
regions  ordaining  bishops."  Superior  to  these  two  is  the 
testimony  of  Irenaeus,  about  180  a.d.  He  was  a  disciple  of 
Polycarp ;  was  born  and  reared  in  Asia  Minor ;  he  taught 
in  Rome  and  became  bishop  in  Gaul.  "  We  are,"  he  says, 
"  in  a  position  to  reckon  up  those  who  were  by  the  apos- 
tles instituted  bishops  in  the  churches,  and  the  successions 
of  these  men  to  our  own  times."  As  Bishop  Lightfoot,  in 
his  exhaustive  essay  on  "  The  Christian  Ministry,"  has  said  : 
"  Episcopacy  is  so  inseparably  interwoven  with  all  the  tra- 
ditions and  beliefs  of  men  like  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  that 
they  betray  no  knowledge  of  a  time  when  it  was  not ;"  and 
as  Professor  George  Salmond  has  said  :  "  From  the  absence 
of  opposing  evidence  this  may  be  concluded  with  certainty : 
that  there  never  had  been  any  violent  or  abrupt  change  in 
the  form  of  church  government." 

Worthy  of  being  associated  with  this  trio  of  eminent  wit- 
nesses are  three  names  of  a  still  earlier  period.  Hegesippus, 
who  died  about  the  time  Irenaeus  wrote,  and  really  is  the 
father  of  church  history,  gives  a  valuable  testimony  at  the 
middle  of  the  second  century.  As  quoted  by  Eusebius, 
he  mentions  a  visit  to  Corinth  and  having  intercourse  with 
Primus,  the  bishop  of  that  church,  and  later  on  a  visit  to 
Rome,  when  Anicetus  was  the  bishop.  He  also  states  that 
he  had  prepared  a  list  of  the  Roman  bishops  up  to  his  own 
time,  and  that  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem  James  the  bishop 
had  been  succeeded  by  Symeon  the  bishop ;  and  in  all 
these  cases  he  evidently  uses  the  term  "  bishop  "  only  in  the 
strict  sense. 

Polycarp,  who  was  martyred  about  155  a.d.,  was  a 
teacher  of  Irenaeus  between  133  and  140  a.d.  ;  was  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  Ignatius  and  a  disciple   of  the  Apostle 


302  THE   REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

John ;  was  born  about  69  a.d.,  near  the  close  of  the  life  of 
St.  Paul ;  and  wrote  a  letter  about  115  a.d.  to  the  church  at 
Philippi,  in  which  he  makes  a  noticeable  distinction  :  "  Poly- 
carp  and  the  presbyters  with  him."  He  likewise  went  to 
Rome  to  specially  arrange  with  Anicetus  the  bishop  con- 
cerning the  paschal  controversy.  On  the  one  side  Tertul- 
lian  and  Irenseus,  and  on  the  other  Ignatius,  mention  him 
as  bishop  of  Smyrna,  and  so  the  church  was  accustomed 
to  speak  of  him.  If  such  were  not  the  rightful  appellation 
it  is  presumable  that  such  a  devout  Christian  would  have 
disclaimed  it,  and  that  in  his  letter  to  the  Philippians  he 
would  have  refrained  from  distinguishing  himself  from  his 
presbtyers.  To  quote  again  from  Bishop  Lightfoot :  "  As 
Polycarp  survived  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  dying 
at  a  very  advanced  age,  the  possibility  of  error  on  this  point 
seems  to  be  excluded ;  and,  indeed,  all  historical  evidence 
must  be  thrown  aside  as  worthless  if  testimony  so  strong 
can  be  disregarded." 

The  third  name  which  we  have  selected  is  Ignatius,  a 
bishop  of  Antioch,  a  martyr  to  the  faith  probably  about 
115  a.d.,  and  who  wrote  during  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century.  The  genuineness  of  his  Epistles,  as  contained  in 
the  shorter  Greek  recension,  is  now  accepted  by  the  great 
preponderance  of  scholars ;  and  the  great  work  of  Bishop 
Lightfoot  on  Ignatius  in  1885  may  be  regarded,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  as  "  a  full  and  final  settlement 
of  the  Ignatian  problem."  A  denial  of  their  genuineness 
is  stated  by  another  Presbyterian,  Professor  Benjamin  War- 
field,  of  Princeton  Seminary,  as  "  unreasonable  in  the  pres- 
ent state  of  the  evidence."  In  these  letters  he  makes  men- 
tion of  Polycarp  as  bishop  at  Smyrna  and  Onesimus  as 
bishop  at  Ephesus,  and  also  of  "  the  bishops  settled  in  the 
farthest  parts  of  the  world."  He  exalts  the  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  bishop  as  superior  to  those  of  presbyters 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3°3 

and  deacons,  speaking  of  "  the  presbyters  fitted  to  the 
bishop  as  the  strings  are  to  the  harp."  In  pleading  for 
episcopacy  it  is  not  so  much  as  something  that  is  new  as 
something  that  is  taken  for  granted,  though  needing  a 
broader  application. 

Moving  backward  a  little  farther,  we  come  to  the  close 
of  the  apostolic  age,  at  the  end  of  the  first  century.  This 
period,  as  affording  any  direct  evidence  on  this  ecclesias- 
tical problem,  may  well  be  called  an  "historical  blank." 
Using  a  figure  suggested  by  Professor  Salmond,  this  portion 
of  church  history  may  be  represented  as  a  tunnel,  dim  and 
uncertain,  while  at  either  end  there  shines  a  good  and  clear 
light,  which  by  a  true  scientific  process  may  be  made  to 
flash  through  the  darkness  of  the  tunnel,  and  so  reveal  one 
regular  and  unbroken  course  of  ecclesiastical  development. 
To  understand  this  period  aright  it  is  necessary  to  make  a 
few  specifications : 

First,  the  apostolate  lasted  until  the  close  of  the  first 
century  in  the  person  of  the  Apostle  John,  and,  at  least  in 
Asia  Minor,  he  is  the  connecting-link  between  the  earlier 
apostles  and  the  subsequent  bishops. 

Secondly,  if  in  the  writings  of  Ignatius,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  second  century,  episcopacy  is  taken  for  granted,  then 
reasonably  it  must  have  existed  for  a  few  decades  before, 
and,  in  fact,  before  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John.  The 
first  time  we  hear  of  a  particular  thing  is  not  necessarily 
the  first  time  of  its  existence. 

Thirdly,  there  is  substantial  evidence  from  subsequent 
writers,  as  those  already  cited,  that  during  this  period,  in 
certain  places  at  least,  there  existed  bishops,  as  superior 
in  certain  respects  to  presbyters,  and  that  some  of  these 
had  been  set  apart  by  the  Apostle  John.  However  un- 
defined as  yet  was  the  bishop's  office,  or  however  limited 
was  the  application  of  the  episcopal  principle,  the  episco- 


304  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

pate  during  this  period  must  still  be  regarded  as  historic. 
Dr.  Hatch,  in  his  Bampton  Lectures,  acknowledges  that  the 
recorded  facts  "show  that  in  a  large  majority  of  cases  a 
bishop,  presbyters,  and  deacons  existed  for  every  commu- 
nity " ;  and  Professor  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  a  Presbyterian 
instructor  in  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  says :  "  When 
the  fact  is  once  fairly  appreciated  that  all  the  believers  in 
a  place,  large  or  small,  made  up  the  church  of  that  place, 
and  that  for  one  church  (no  matter  whether  consisting  of 
one  congregation  or  many)  there  must  be  but  one  bishop, 
the  whole  matter  becomes  perfectly  plain."  The  episcopacy 
of  that  period  looks  much  like  modern  Presbyterianism,  if 
not  merely  in  every  church,  but  in  every  community,  one 
man  directed  all  the  religious  affairs. 

Fourthly,  the  fact  that  certain  churches  were  lacking  in 
the  supervision  of  a  higher  order  or  office  called  bishops 
only  proves  that  the  episcopate  as  a  distinct  and  regular 
form  was  not  universal,  and  that  the  young  and  extending 
church  was  not  yet  thoroughly  equipped  or  fully  organized, 
but  was  still  in  a  state  of  transition.  Twenty  or  thirty 
years  in  an  organization  is  hardly  sufficient  to  reach  ma- 
turity. Even  to-day  certain  persons,  though  believing  in 
the  episcopal  system,  may  be  so  situated  as  for  the  time 
being  to  be  without  either  episcopal  or  presbyterial  over- 
sight; and  yet  this  hardly  tends  to  prove  the  absence  of 
episcopacy  as  a  fact  of  history.  There  was  a  time  when 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  America  was  deprived  of  the  im- 
mediate and  local  oversight  of  the  bishops ;  but  the  church 
none  the  less  was  episcopal  in  theory  and  aspiration,  and 
still  maintained  a  connection  with  the  regular  Historic  Epis- 
copate of  the  mother-country.  Though  unable  to  show 
how  widely  the  episcopal  principle  extended  at  the  close  of 
the  first  century,  we  yet  should  not  deny  the  predominance 
of  the  principle,  still  less  its  existence  in  toto. 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3°5 

Fifthly,  not  only  did  it  require  time  to  organize  the 
growing  and  persecuted  churches,  scattered  throughout 
Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe,  and  to  ordain  in  the  chief  centers 
superintending  bishops,  but  it  also  required  time  to  estab- 
lish a  definite  and  harmonious  terminology.  If,  in  the 
writings  of  the  apostles,  the  terms  for  bishop  and  presbyter, 
though  different  in  origin  and  suggesting  different  ideas, 
had  yet  been  used  interchangeably  of  the  same  persons,  it 
can  hardly  be  expected  that  in  twenty  or  thirty  years  the 
term  "  bishop  "  could  everywhere  have  been  elevated  into 
a  distinct  usage  with  largely  a  new  meaning.  The  Epistles 
of  Barnabas  and  Clement  of  Rome,  the  "  Shepherd "  of 
Hermas,  "The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,"  and  the  books 
of  the  canon,  did  not  distinguish  clearly  between  the  terms 
"  bishop  "  and  "  presbyter,"  but  we  should  not  construe  this 
into  a  proof  that  practically  all  bishops  and  presbyters  had 
the  same  duties,  power,  and  authority.  A  precise  term  was 
not  yet  fully  established,  but  the  fact  of  a  general  oversight 
of  and  superiority  to  the  presbyterate  seems  from  the  evi- 
dence to  have  always  existed  somewhere  in  the  church. 
Clement  of  Rome,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  church  at  Corinth, 
assumes  the  substantial  identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters, 
and  yet  Irenaeus  and  other  writers  represent  him  as  a  bishop 
at  Rome  in  the  later  usage  of  that  word.  So  Hermas 
makes  mention  of  only  presbyters  in  the  church  at  Rome, 
or  of  bishops  in  probably  the  same  sense,  and  yet  he  repre- 
sents Clement  as  having  a  special  oversight  in  relation  to 
foreign  churches.  The  struggle  was  not  so  much  to  gain 
recognition  and  authority  for  an  order  or  rule  in  some  re- 
spects superior  to  the  body  of  presbyters,  as  in  elevating  and 
limiting  the  term  "  episcopus  "  to  that  order  or  rule.  Every 
bishop,  whatever  the  meaning  included  in  the  term,  may 
have  been  a  presbyter,  but  not,  as  the  commentator  Hilary 
afterward  said,  every  presbyter  a  bishop,  "  for  he  is  bishop 


306  THE   REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

who  is  first  among  the  presbyters."  So  Jerome  also,  of  the 
fourth  century,  while  speaking  of  bishops  and  presbyters 
in  the  apostolic  times  as  practically  the  same  in  kind,  yet 
adds  that  "gradually  all  the  responsibility  was  deferred  to 
a  single  person." 

Sixthly,  the  principle  of  episcopacy — the  fact  of  an  over- 
sight superior  to  that  of  the  presbyters,  but  not  necessarily 
independent  thereof — should  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  all  theories  intended  to  explain  the  nature  of  that 
episcopacy,  its  origin,  and  its  growth.  Of  the  particular 
theory  there  may  be  dispute,  but  of  the  general  principle 
there  is  abundant  evidence.  The  theory  of  Rothe,  that 
a  special  council  was  called  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
to  establish  the  regulations  of  the  future  episcopacy,  is 
interesting,  but  not  incontrovertible  ;  and  yet  the  very  exis- 
tence of  such  a  theory,  so  elaborately  wrought  out  by  a 
non-Episcopalian,  indicates  a  substratum  of  truth  requir- 
ing explanation.  The  theory  advocated  by  Mosheim  and 
Neander,  Bishop  Lightfoot  and  Dean  Stanley,  Dr.  Hatch, 
Professor  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  and  others,  that  "the 
episcopate  was  created  out  of  the  presbytery,"  has  much 
in  its  favor,  and  gives  forth  a  light  to  one  side  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  but  to  complete  the  explanation  and  make  clearer 
the  prevalence  of  episcopacy,  another  "  circumstantial  evi- 
dence "  should  be  duly  noted.  The  episcopal  principle 
was  not  merely  embodied  in  a  particular  member  of  the 
presbyterate,  such  as  its  senior,  president,  or  other  promi- 
nent person,  but  also  for  a  while,  and  originally,  in  men 
outside  of  the  presbyterate,  such  as  apostles,  prophets,  and 
teachers — a  theory  ably  advocated  in  the  Expositor  by 
Professors  Harnack,  Sanday,  and  Gore,  and  especially  by 
the  latter  in  a  valuable  work,  "  The  Ministry  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church."  In  "  The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,"  which 
represents  the  transitional  state  of  the  last  thirty  years  of 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    307 

the  first  century,  the  position  of  preeminence  and  general 
direction  seems  to  be  accorded  this  class  of  apostolic  men, 
while  at  the  same  time  concerning  the  local  ministry — 
called  bishops  and  deacons — it  is  said  :  "They,  too,  perform 
for  you  the  service  of  the  prophets  and  teachers ;  therefore 
neglect  them  not,  for  they  are  your  honored  ones  together 
with  the  prophets  and  teachers."  So  Clement  of  Rome 
lays  special  stress  on  the  fact  that  the  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons had  been  first  set  apart  by  the  apostles  with  the  intent 
of  a  perpetual  line  of  succession  ;  and  he  also  makes  men- 
tion of  others  after  the  apostolic  age  not  appointed  by  the 
apostles,  but  by  "  other  men  of  distinction,"  thus  indicating 
a  class  in  some  sense  superior  to  the  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons, substantially  the  bishops  of  a  later  age.  While  the 
bishops  of  the  primitive  church  were  elevated  from  the 
presbyterate — as  all  bishops  were  once  presbyters — yet  in 
principle,  in  unity,  oversight,  and  continuity,  they  were 
more  naturally  the  successors  of  an  apostolate,  including 
not  merely  the  original  twelve  apostles,  but  also  their  special 
delegates  and  those  men  known  as  prophets  and  teachers. 
If  there  was  no  connection  whatever  between  bishops  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term  and  the  apostles,  it  seems  un- 
accountable, as  Dean  Milman  has  shown  in  his  "  History 
of  Christianity,"  that  in  the  various  scattered  churches 
there  came  to  be  a  spontaneous,  pacific,  and  general  "  sub- 
mission to  the  authority  of  one  religious  chief  magistrate." 
Dr.  Schaff,  in  the  new  edition  of  his  "  History  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,"  fairly  sums  up  the  question :  "  The  only  satis- 
factory conclusion  seems  to  be  that  the  episcopate  pro- 
ceeded, both  in  the  descending  and  ascending  scale,  from 
the  apostolate  and  the  original  presbyterate  conjointly,  as  a 
contraction  of  the  former  and  an  expansion  of  the  latter." 
What  now  can  we  find  in  the  apostolic  or  New  Testa- 
ment period  ?     Must  the  episcopate  cease  to  be  historic  as 


308  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

soon  as  it  draws  nigh  to  Christ  and  the  apostles  ?  Must 
the  principle  that  has  predominated  in  the  church  for  at 
least  eighteen  hundred  years  be  absent  from  the  church 
during  the  fifty  or  sixty  years  of  her  beginning  ?  To  an- 
swer these  questions  it  seems  to  us  only  necessary  to  note 
the  distinctions  already  drawn  and  to  apply  the  principle, 
though  not  the  precise  terminology,  that  has  been  shown 
to  be  historic  through  all  these  centuries.  As  Rev.  Mr. 
Sadler,  in  his  "  Church  Doctrine — Bible  Truth,"  has  said, 
"  The  dispute  is  from  beginning  to  end  a  matter  of  things, 
not  of  words ;"  and  if  of  things,  we  may  add,  the  dispute  is 
more  than  half  settled  at  the  outset.  "  Supposing,"  as  the 
same  author  says,  "  that  in  every  case  the  name  '  bishop '  is 
synonymous  with  '  elder,'  you  still  have  the  fact  that  these 
men  are  throughout  the  New  Testament  assumed  to  be 
under  the  control  of  the  apostle  and  of  his  vicar  or  dele- 
gate." In  the  New  Testament  we  find  that  local  churches, 
with  local  duties  and  authority,  were  organized ;  and  so  far 
there  is  illustrated  an  element  of  independency.  Likewise 
it  was  the  aim  as  soon  as  possible  to  establish  in  these  local 
churches  a  board  of  presbyters  or  elders,  also  at  times 
called  bishops,  possessed  of  special  duties  and  power ;  and 
so  far  there  is  illustrated  the  principle  of  presbyterianism. 
Beyond  these  two  important  features  there  likewise  existed 
a  body  of  men  known  as  the  apostolate,  charged  with  the 
instruction,  guidance,  stimulus,  organization,  and  supervi- 
sion of  these  various  local  churches ;  and  so  far  there  is 
illustrated  the  principle  of  episcopacy.  In  the  bishop  of 
the  New  Testament  we  find  the  essence  of  presbyterianism, 
not  of  episcopacy ;  but  in  the  apostles  and  prophets,  with 
their  delegates  and  companions,  we  find  certainly  not  pres- 
byterianism or  independency,  but  episcopacy.  As  a  matter 
of  history,  there  was  at  that  time  something  more  and  higher 
than  the  power  and  office  of  the  presbyters  and  deacons, 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3°9 

and  to  be  true  to  history  we  must  recognize  and  appre- 
ciate it,  if  not  in  the  letter,  at  least  in  the  spirit.  Finding 
the  episcopal  principle  to  completion  in  one  body  of  men, 
it  is  hardly  reasonable  to  insist  that  such  a  body  of  men 
should  always  be  called  bishops,  and  nothing  else.  If  the 
essence  existed  at  all,  it  is  sufficient  for  our  argument ;  and 
if  it  existed  to  perfection — as  in  the  apostolate — then  our 
argument  is  established  beyond  all  contradiction.  It  is 
not  that  the  apostleship  has  been  a  permanent  institution, 
but  that  the  episcopate  has,  it  being  only  the  continuation 
of  particular  elements  originally  belonging  to  the  apostle- 
ship. "  It  is  to  be  said,"  says  Professor  Salmond,  "  that  it 
does  not  appear  from  the  New  Testament  that  the  presby- 
ters were  at  any  time  the  supreme  authority  in  the  church  ;" 
and,  as  Dr.  Richard  Hooker  has  aptly  expressed  it,  "  In 
some  things  every  presbyter,  in  some  things  only  bishops, 
in  some  things  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  are  the  apos- 
tles' successors." 

For  these  views  a  few  proofs  may  be  briefly  stated. 
When  a  successor  to  one  of  the  Twelve  was  to  be  chosen, 
it  was  quoted,  "His  bishopric  let  another  take."  What- 
ever the  precise  work  of  this  office,  there  may  reasonably 
be  implied,  as  the  facts  would  guarantee,  that  oversight — 
episcopacy — was  one  function  of  the  twelve  apostles. 
Hence  after  the  ascension  of  Christ  it  is  recorded :  "  Then 
the  Twelve  called  the  multitude  of  the  disciples  unto  them, 
and  said,  We  will  give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer,  and 
to  the  ministry  of  the  Word."  In  fact,  the  high  authority 
of  the  chosen  Twelve  is  probably  no  cause  of  dispute,  but 
is  acknowledged  by  all.  The  references  needed  are  con- 
cerning others  outside  the  Twelve,  but  possessing,  like  them, 
a  general  ministry  superior  to  that  of  the  local  presbyters. 

In  the  church  of  Jerusalem  mention  is  made  of  the 
''brethren,"  of  the  "elders,"  and  also  of  one  superior  to 


310  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

all  and  recognized  by  all — James,  the  Lord's  brother.  At 
the  first  general  council  held  at  Jerusalem  he  it  was  who 
presided  and  gave  his  sentence  along  with  the  apostles  and 
Paul  and  Barnabas.  In  the  decree,  "The  apostles  and  elders 
and  brethren  send  greeting,"  James,  Paul,  and  Barnabas 
seemed  to  be  classed  among  the  "  apostles "  as  distinct 
from  the  "  elders  "  or  presbyters.  If  we  adopt  the  view 
now  generally  supported,  that  this  James  was  not  one  of 
the  Twelve,  then  we  have  a  bishop  in  the  strict  sense,  and 
one  who  was  thus  called  by  Hegesippus  and  others  in  the 
following  century. 

The  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles — also  outside  the  Twelve — 
not  only  appointed  worthy  presbyters  in  every  church  to 
exercise  a  local  oversight,  but  he  regarded  that  "  the  care 
of  all  the  churches  "  rested  preeminently  with  himself.  As 
his  life  drew  near  to  a  close  he  realized  the  importance  of 
his  trust,  and  therefore  addressed  special  instructions  on 
the  government  of  the  church  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  and 
committed  to  them,  at  least  for  a  time,  a  special  authority 
in  the  churches  of  Ephesus  and  Crete.  The  instructions 
were  addressed  neither  to  the  local  churches  nor  the  local 
presbyters,  but  to  particular  persons  higher  than  the  pres- 
byters, and  the  direct  representatives,  in  this  higher  sense, 
of  the  Apostle  himself.  "  O  Timothy,"  he  says,  "  keep 
that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust;"  "Lay  hands  sud- 
denly on  no  man  ;"  "Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  ac- 
cusation, but  before  two  or  three  witnesses."  And  to  Titus 
he  says :  "  For  this  cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou 
shouldest  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  or- 
dain elders  in  every  city,  as  I  had  appointed  thee  ;"  "  These 
things  speak,  and  exhort,  and  rebuke  with  all  authority." 
In  fact,  these  men  "were  delegated  by  St.  Paul,"  as  Dr. 
Jacob  says,  "  to  perform  for  him  what  we  might  call  epis- 
copal functions  in  ordaining,  superintending,  reproving,  or 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    311 

encouraging  the  ministers  of  these  churches,  as  well  as  en- 
deavoring to  promote  the  general  well-being  of  the  Chris- 
tian communities  there."  They,  like  the  apostles  and  their 
other  companions,  were  not  of  necessity  to  be  permanently 
located,  as  are  the  bishops  of  to-day;  but  this  only  illus- 
trates the  capacity  of  episcopacy  for  modification.  The 
essence  of  episcopacy  is  not  the  size  of  a  diocese  or  the 
fact  of  a  permanent  residence,  but  merely  the  principle  of 
a  higher  oversight  and  authority,  and,  as  some  would  say, 
that  principle  deduced  directly  from  the  apostles.  The 
commission  of  all  the  companions  of  Paul  "inhered  not," 
as  Professor  Warfield  has  said,  "  in  any  local  organization, 
not  even  in  the  church  at  large,  but  in  the  Apostle;  and 
their  center  of  authority  was  wherever  he  was."  All  this 
certainly  looks  more  like  an  original  episcopacy  than  de- 
ducing an  episcopacy  from  merely  a  presbytery,  evolved 
from  above  as  well  as  from  below. 

Associated  with  the  regular  apostles  in  the  general  min- 
istry, and  generally  classed  with  what  is  termed  the  apos- 
tolate,  are  also  prophets  and  teachers,  men  who  exercised 
much,  if  not  more,  of  the  same  authority  and  supervision 
that  bishops  ultimately  came  to  possess.  The  duties  and 
powers  of  these  men  were  so  important  that  two  chap- 
ters in  one  Epistle  particularly  relate  to  them.  As  Pro- 
fessor Gore  has  said:  "The  relation  of  presbyters  and 
deacons  to  the  diocesan  bishop  was  not  fundamentally 
different  from  their  earlier  relation  to  the  '  apostolic  man ' 
or  prophet,  the  Timothy  or  Titus,  when  he  was  present." 
For  reasons  plain  to  God,  if  not  to  man,  there  were  for  a 
time  men  possessed  of  extraordinary  gifts  from  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  while  it  was  not  essential  that  this  extraordi- 
nary power  should  remain,  it  was  essential  to  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  church  that  the  real  soul  of  this  power  should 
exist,  at  least  in  an  ordinary  degree.     The  word  of  wisdom 


312  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

and  the  word  of  knowledge,  the  gifts  of  healing  and  the 
gifts  of  tongues,  have  always  been  needed,  though  not 
necessarily  granted  in  the  same  degree  as  in  the  earliest 
days.  The  presbyters,  therefore,  were  to  be  men  apt  to 
teach,  able  by  sound  doctrine  to  exhort  and  convince,  and 
were  to  be  summoned  to  the  bedside  of  the  sick.  And  it 
also  soon  became  necessary  that,  in  addition  to  the  local 
element,  the  element  of  general  supervision,  authority, 
guidance,  and  instruction,  as  found  to  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree among  the  apostles  and  prophets,  should  be  carefully 
perpetuated,  though  in  an  ordinary  degree,  by  passing  first 
into  the  hands  of  the  immediate  delegates  of  the  apostles, 
and  then  in  a  few  years  into  the  hands  of  those  who  were 
called  distinctively  bishops.  The  extraordinary  ceased 
and  the  ordinary  began ;  but  certain  elements  have  always 
existed,  and  to  many  have  seemed  both  wise,  important, 
and  expedient. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  church,  and  likewise  the  Christian  minis- 
try, is  built  "upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  pro- 
phets, Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone."  In 
the  early  labors  of  these  men  there  was  given,  so  far  as  we 
know,  no  complete  system  of  iron-clad  rules  to  guide  the 
church  of  the  future,  but  only  certain  essential  principles, 
which  were  left  to  germinate  amid  the  varied  conditions  of 
coming  ages.  One  of  these  principles,  undying  through 
all  these  centuries,  permeated  with  sound  logic  and  a  broad 
catholicity,  a  scriptural  vitality  and  the  growing  force  of  a 
veritable  history,  is  the  principle  of  episcopacy,  one  in  its 
essence,  but  possessed  of  a  commendable  elasticity  and 
capable  of  various  modifications.  Indeed,  the  episcopate 
in  its  essence  has  been  historic  for  as  long  a  period  as  the 
Christian  church — a  worthy,  though  not  the  only,  basis  for 
organic  union. 

The   proposition,  therefore,  to  unite   on  an  episcopate, 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3l3 

not  invented  for  the  sake  of  convenience  in  these  modern 
days,  but  one  which  is  historic,  and  in  essence  and  as  a 
principle  not  only  in  historic  continuity,  but  in  historic 
continuity  with  our  divine  Lord  and  his  apostles,  is  a 
proposition  not  merely  reasonable  and  deserving  respectful 
consideration,  but  coming  to  us  to-day  with  all  the  weight 
of  universal  adaptation,  and  supported  by  great  minds, 
such  as  no  other  proposition  has  yet  been  honored  with. 

The  proposition  first  of  all  is  the  voice  of  the  conserva- 
tive Established  Church  of  England  and  the  growing  and 
active  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  of  Brit- 
ish America,  and  of  the  British  colonies.  It  rests  not  in 
the  private  opinion  of  one  individual,  but  comes  to  us  with 
all  the  commanding  force  of  formal  action  and  of  an 
organized  body  of  high  representative  and  official  men. 
Any  system  of  organic  union  that  practically  excludes  the 
Episcopal  churches  must  be  viewed  with  more  or  less  of 
distrust,  while  a  system  that  not  only  includes  them,  but  is 
supported  by  them,  may  reasonably  be  accepted  as  some- 
thing that  is  desirable  and  beneficial. 

The  Historic  Episcopate,  moreover,  is  not  pressed  with 
any  disdainful,  repellent,  or  inflexible  spirit,  but  with  the 
advance  of  fraternal  kindness  and  in  terms  that  are  liberal 
and  concessive.  While  the  essence  of  the  Historic  Epis- 
copate is  maintained,  the  fourth  article  of  the  Declaration 
refers  to  it  as  "  locally  adapted  in  the  methods  of  its  ad- 
ministration to  the  varying  needs  of  the  nations  and  peo- 
ples called  of  God  into  the  unity  of  his  church."  The 
constituted  authorities  of  the  Anglican  communion  are 
also  requested  "to  make  it  known  that  they  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  enter  into  brotherly  conference  with 
representatives  of  other  Christian  communions  in  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking races,  in  order  to  consider  what  steps  can 
be  taken,  either  toward  corporate  reunion  or  toward  such 


3H  THE  REUNION  OF  CHRISTENDOM 

relations  as  may  prepare  the  way  for  fuller  organic  unity 
hereafter."  No  particular  form  of  the  Historic  Episcopate 
is  insisted  on ;  neither  is  it  claimed  that  all  other  com- 
munions must  be  absorbed  into  the  Established  Church  of 
England  or  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  America; 
but  it  is  merely  earnestly  desired  that  "brotherly  confer- 
ence "  should  be  begun,  and  the  aim  expressed  is  either  a 
"  corporate  reunion  "  or  a  "  fuller  organic  unity  hereafter." 
If  such  a  result  should  ever  be  consummated  it  seems 
plain  that  the  new  organism  would  differ  in  certain  respects 
from  the  existing  communions,  be  they  Anglican  or  Presby- 
terian, Methodist  or  Baptist,  Congregational  or  Lutheran, 
and  yet  would  adopt  that  feature  of  the  Anglican  Church 
called  the  Historic  Episcopate,  "locally  adapted"  "to  the 
varying  needs."  Countless  disputed  questions,  such  as 
liturgy  and  establishment,  sacerdotalism  and  sacramen- 
tarianism,  are  not  necessarily  included  in  such  an  essential, 
and  neither  are  they  intolerantly  excluded  therefrom.  Not 
a  dead  uniformity,  but  a  practical  living  unity — this,  and 
this  only,  is  organic  union. 

The  breadth  allowed  in  the  reunion  of  various  com- 
munions is  already  exemplified  in  the  breadth  of  the  Angli- 
can Church  as  at  present  constituted.  In  the  bosom  of 
the  one  church  different  and  even  antagonistic  views  are 
held ;  but  the  unity  of  the  church  is  not  destroyed  if  toler- 
ation and  charity,  mutual  respect  and  mutual  helpfulness, 
are  still  maintained.  Not  even  is  a  particular  theory  of 
the  episcopate  required — only  that  it  be  taken  as  historic. 

Professor  Briggs,  in  speaking  of  the  four  resolutions, 
says :  "  These  four  terms  proposed  by  the  Anglican  bishops 
are  entirely  satisfactory,  provided  they  mean  nothing  more 
than  their  face  value.  If  I  understand  them  aright,  they 
are  not  to  be  interpreted  in  the  special  sense  of  any  partic- 
ular party  in  the  Anglican  communion,  but  are  to  be  taken 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    315 

in  that  sense  that  is  common  to  all  these  parties  in  the 
Church  of  England  and  in  the  American  Episcopal 
Church."  In  another  place  he  adds  these  words:  "It  is 
certain  that  if  the  English  bishops  had  offered  these  terms 
to  the  Westminster  divines,  there  would  have  been  no  sep- 
aration." In  the  seventeenth  century  a  strong  spirit  of 
union  existed,  and  concessions  were  made  by  such  men  as 
Archbishops  Cranmer,  Lee,  Abbot,  and  Usher ;  but  from  a 
variety  of  reasons  the  majority  of  the  bishops  were  opposed, 
and  union  was  delayed,  and  separation  took  place.  To-day 
the  case  is  again  renewed,  and  let  us  hope  with  better  suc- 
cess. Dean  Perowne  states  the  case  in  a  late  address: 
"  I  take  the  ground  of  our  Reformers,  I  take  the  ground 
of  our  great  Anglican  divines,  and  I  affirm  that  episcopacy 
is  of  the  bene  esse,  but  not  of  the  esse,  of  a  church.  I  be- 
lieve it  to  be  the  best  form  of  government,  but  I  dare  not 
say  that  without  it  there  is  neither  church  nor  sacrament. 
I  believe  its  origin  may  be  traced  back  to  apostolic  times. 
I  do  not  see  that  it  is  of  divine  command." 

The  Historic  Episcopate,  as  thus  capable  of  various  modi- 
fications, is  supported  by  the  commanding  and  venerable 
witness  of  over  nineteen  centuries  of  steady  continuity  and 
growing  expansion.  No  other  ecclesiastical  system,  how- 
ever possessed  of  commendable  characteristics,  can  present 
such  an  historical  reason  for  world-wide  acceptance.  It 
existed  in  the  apostolate,  endowed  with  extraordinary  gifts, 
possessed  of  an  undeniable  authority,  and  exercising  the 
widest  supervision ;  but  defining  as  yet  no  limit  to  each 
man's  territory,  and  confined  to  no  one  locality,  but  each 
man  moving  to  and  fro  in  the  church  at  large  as  the  Spirit 
seemed  to  direct.  Then,  by  an  inevitable  transition,  the 
high  and  wide  bishopric  of  the  apostles,  and  the  undefined 
control  and  guidance  of  the  prophets  and  evangelists,  nar- 
rowed for  a  few  decades  into  the  episcopacy  of  a  parochial 


316  THE  REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

bishop  or  congregational  bishop — all,  indeed,  designated 
still  as  presbyters,  but  one  in  particular  possessed  of  the 
general  oversight  either  of  a  church  or  a  city.  As  Pro- 
fessor W.  Sanday  has  said :  "  Every  town  of  any  size  had 
its  bishop ;  and  if  there  were  several  churches  they  were 
served  by  the  clergy  whom  the  bishop  kept  about  him. 
The  whole  position  of  the  bishop  was  very  similar  to  that 
of  the  incumbent  of  the  parish  church  in  one  of  our  smaller 
towns."  Later  on,  with  the  growth  of  the  church  and  by 
the  force  of  events,  the  more  limited  episcopacy  expanded 
into  that  of  a  diocesan  bishop,  indicating,  indeed,  a  greater 
control  than  that  of  the  bishops  of  the  transitional  period, 
but  less  than  that  of  the  "  apostles  and  prophets  "  of  the 
foundation  period.  This  form  of  episcopacy  has  continued 
until  the  present,  though  likewise  presenting  in  itself  various 
modifications.  The  Established  Church  of  England  and 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  America  alike  possess  in  regular 
order  the  Historic  Episcopate ;  but  the  system  of  the  two 
churches  is  differently  constituted.  The  one  is  an  estab- 
lishment of  the  state ;  the  other,  like  every  other  form  of 
religion,  is  separate  from  the  state.  The  one  culminates 
in  the  throne  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  while  in 
the  other  there  is  nothing  higher  than  the  bishops.  In  the 
one  the  bishops  are  largely  independent  of  the  laity — un- 
less as  a  part  of  the  government — but  in  the  other  there  is 
a  triennial  General  Convention,  composed  of  two  houses — 
the  House  of  Bishops  and  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay 
Deputies — and  every  question  decided  or  bishop  elected 
is  by  the  majority  of  both  clergy  and  laity.  Speaking  in 
general,  "  the  diocesan  system  as  it  now  exists  is,"  in  the 
language  of  Dr.  Hatch,  "the  effect  of  a  series  of  histor- 
ical circumstances.  It  is  impossible  to  defend  every 
part  of  it  as  being  primitive,  nor  is  it  necessary  to  do  so. 
It  is  sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  the  result  of  successive 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3*7 

readaptations  of  the  church's  framework  to  the  needs  of 
the  times." 

The  Historic  Episcopate,  furthermore,  has  already  been 
adopted  for  the  sake  of  union.  The  different  parties  of  the 
Church  of  England  to-day  would  long  since  have  split  into 
different  branches  if  the  system  of  control  had  not  been 
episcopal.  Jerome,  to  whom  non-Episcopalians  so  often 
appeal,  speaking  of  the  rise  of  the  particular  class  called 
bishops,  says  :  "  When  afterward  one  presbyter  was  elected, 
that  he  might  be  placed  over  the  rest,  this  was  done  as  a 
remedy  against  schism,  that  each  man  might  not  drag  to 
himself  and  thus  break  up  the  church  of  Christ;"  and 
again,  in  even  stronger  language,  he  says :  "  The  well-being 
of  the  church  depends  upon  the  dignity  of  the  bishop ;  for 
if  some  extraordinary  power  were  not  conceded  to  him  by 
general  consent  there  would  be  as  many  schisms  in  the 
church  as  there  were  presbyters."  So  to  Ignatius  "the 
chief  value  of  episcopacy  "  was,  in  the  language  of  Bishop 
Lightfoot,  as  "  a  visible  center  of  unity  in  the  congrega- 
tion." The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  growing  hostility 
of  heathenism  and  the  Roman  rulers,  and  the  appearance  of 
dissension,  schism,  and  heresy,  compelled  all  the  churches 
to  seek  for  a  unifying  basis  and  a  compact  organization, 
and  to  find  them,  moreover,  in  the  principle  of  episcopacy, 
which  had  already  existed  in  the  catholic  oversight,  broad 
spirit,  and  comprehensive  organization  of  the  Apostle  Paul, 
the  venerable  John,  the  brave  Peter,  and  their  faithful 
compeers.  At  first  the  union  was  merely  local,  but  as  the 
church  grew  the  episcopal  jurisdiction  necessarily  expanded 
into  the  broader  diocesan  form,  with  its  vital  idea  of  a 
church  that  is  catholic  and  one.  As  Dr.  Jacob  has  said, 
"  The  establishment  of  episcopacy  saved  the  church." 

The  Historic  Episcopate,  thus  supported  and  thus  pre- 
sented, is  now  before  the  churches  of  Great  Britain  and 


3i8  THE   REUNION   OF  CHRISTENDOM 

America.  The  attitude  toward  the  proposal  of  the  Angli- 
can communion  seems  to  be  less  favorable  in  England  and 
Wales  than  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  If  the  root 
of  the  difficulty  should  be  examined  it  would  be  found  to 
be  in  many  cases  a  prejudice  of  individuals  rather  than  of 
a  system ;  a  disagreement  concerning  endowment,  titles, 
and  patronage  rather  than  of  episcopacy ;  and  the  un- 
pleasant remembrance  of  past  wars,  tyranny,  and  suffering 
rather  than  the  glad  expectancy  of  forces  consolidated, 
ranks  reunited,  "made  perfect  in  one."  In  all  the  various 
communions  of  Protestantism — so  lamentably  dissevered 
and  so  far  from  the  spirit  of  the  Master's  prayer — there 
are  practically  only  three  church  polities :  Independency, 
Presbyterianism,  and  Episcopacy.  It  is  harder  for  all  the 
existing  denominations  to  unite  than  for  the  three  polities 
to  unite,  but  in  neither  case  is  the  difficulty  insuperable. 
Considering  merely  the  three  polities  it  seems  to  us  that  the 
polity  most  easy  of  acceptance  by  all,  and  best  fitted  for 
all,  is  the  episcopal  polity.  In  matters  of  polity  it  is  easier 
to  add  on  than  take  off.  For  the  Episcopalian  to  discard 
the  order  of  bishops  would  mean  a  relinquishment  of  one 
of  his  principles  ;  a  principle,  moreover,  historic  in  line  from 
the  time  of  the  apostles,  and  for  many  a  century  accepted 
by  the  universal  church.  On  the  other  hand,  for  the  In- 
dependent or  Presbyterian  to  accept  the  order  of  bishops 
would  not  necessarily  ignore  the  independency  of  the  one 
or  the  presbyterianism  of  the  other.  The  Independent  in 
theory  is  further  removed  from  the  Episcopalian  than  is 
the  Presbyterian,  but  in  practice  and  in  heart  there  is  still 
a  bond  of  union.  If  to  be  independent  means  total  sepa- 
ration from  all  others  and  the  recognition  of  no  power  be- 
yond the  local  church,  then  it  is  useless  to  talk  of  union 
that  is  organic  and  visible.  If,  however,  there  is  felt  a 
duty  or  desirability  to  more  fully  unite,  whether  in  the 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    3I9 

form  of  association,  conference,  committee,  or  union,  then 
there  is  something  more  than  mere  Independency,  and 
which  could  easily  be  transferred  to  the  consolidating  and 
supervising  body  of  bishops;  a  body,  moreover,  which 
would  still  respect  the  rights  and  utility  of  a  local  church. 
As  to  the  Presbyterian,  what  in  reality  is  he  but  an  Epis- 
copalian of  a  short  time  of  the  primitive  church  ?  The 
pastor  of  a  church  is  surrounded  by  a  body  of  elders  or 
presbyters,  and  though  equal  in  certain  particulars  he  is 
plainly  the  recognized  head,  guide,  and  superior.  He  is, 
in  fact,  a  congregational  bishop,  and  were  it  not  for  the 
multitude  of  sects  would  also,  in  certain  cases,  be  a  paro- 
chial bishop.  If  in  the  Episcopal  system  there  are  three 
orders  in  the  ministry,  in  the  Presbyterian  there  are  three 
orders  of  officers.  "The  ordinary  and  perpetual  officers 
of  the  church,"  says  the  Presbyterian  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, "  are  bishops  or  pastors,  and  the  representatives  of 
the  people,  usually  styled  ruling  elders  and  deacons."  In 
fact,  the  essence  of  presbyterianism  and  episcopacy  is  the 
same.  Why,  then,  should  the  congregational  episcopacy 
be  exchanged  for  the  diocesan?  modern  presbyterianism 
for  modern  episcopacy?  First,  because  in  adopting  the 
latter  the  former  would  still  be  allowed  so  far  as  the  pastor 
or  teaching  presbyter  is  concerned,  and  might  also  be 
allowed,  if  deemed  necessary,  in  the  case  of  the  ruling 
presbyters  or  elders ;  secondly,  because  the  limited  or  pres- 
byterian  form  of  episcopacy  existed  only  for  a  short  time 
in  the  primitive  church,  but  was  quickly  expanded  into  the 
diocesan  form,  whether  large  or  small,  and  thus  the  better 
illustrating  the  episcopal  authority  of  the  apostolate  and 
the  better  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  growing  church; 
thirdly,  because  the  diocesan  episcopacy  being  originally 
adopted  in  the  extending  church  for  the  greater  union,  har- 
mony, and  solidity  of  the  one  church,  it  may  reasonably 


320  THE  REUNION   OF   CHRISTENDOM 

be  again  adopted  for  the  same  end ;  and  fourthly,  as  the 
presbyters  find  it  advisable  to  establish  a  power  superior  to 
themselves  as  individual  office-bearers,  by  means  of  a  Pres- 
bytery, Synod,  and  General  Assembly,  so  this  higher  power 
can  easily  be  concentrated  in  a  certain  order  called  dis- 
tinctively bishops.  Concerning  those  who  adopt  for  one 
reason  or  another  the  episcopal  system,  but  separated  from 
the  Historic  Episcopate,  it  is  only  requisite  that  terms  of 
agreement  should  be  so  made  that  the  regular  episcopate 
may  be  secured  by  the  irregular,  and  not  the  regular  dis- 
carded for  the  sake  of  recognizing  the  irregular.  In  cer- 
tain cases,  as  with  the  Moravians  and  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  Scandinavia,  the  regular  historical  connection  may 
already  be  found  to  be  satisfactory. 

Any  system  of  union  among  the  Protestant  churches 
should  also  aim  to  assimilate  to,  rather  than  recede  from,  a 
possible  reunion  or  friendly  cooperation  with  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Oriental  churches.  In  all  these  the  Historic  Episcopate 
is  an  essential  element,  and  the  Historic  Episcopate  of  a 
one  reformed  church  would  be  a  natural  means  of  fraternal 
approach.  The  schism,  however  we  attach  the  blame 
thereof,  is  wide  and  deep ;  but  the  true  reformer  is  not  he 
who  intensifies  that  schism,  but  he  who  seeks  to  heal  it 
by  even  the  most  insignificant  endeavor.  In  the  line  of 
church  polity,  episcopacy  must  be  the  end,  as  it  was  the 
beginning.  A  system  that  can  show  such  unity,  strength, 
and  continuity,  and  at  the  same  time  such  variety  and 
adaptation,  is  surely  a  fitting  system  for  a  wider  organic 
reunion  of  the  one  church  of  Christ.  We  may  all  agree  to 
go  back  together  to  Christ  and  the  apostles,  and  to  recite 
anew,  "  I  believe  in  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church." 

An  episcopate  thus  adapted  to  all  the  countries  and 
races  of  the  earth,  aiming  at  some  of  the  perfection  of 
universal  adaptation  belonging  to  Christianity,  and  never 


AS  IT  APPEARS  TO  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY    321 

forgetting  that  inner  fellowship  of  love  which  the  divine 
Spirit  can  alone  produce ;  an  episcopate  adapted  to  the 
Occident  and  the  Orient,  to  the  Semitic  and  Aryan,  to  the 
Mongolian  and  Slavonic,  to  the  Latin  and  Hellenic,  to  the 
Celtic  and  Teutonic;  adapted  to  all  forms  of  political 
organization — the  monarchy,  oligarchy,  democracy,  and 
theocracy ;  adapted  alike  to  the  mighty  Roman  empire, 
stretching  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  rolling  waves  of  the 
Atlantic,  and  to  the  little  state  struggling  for  indepen- 
dence ;  to  the  colony  and  to  the  islands  of  the  sea ;  adapted 
to  every  age  of  the  church — to  the  apostolic  of  the  first 
century,  the  primitive  parochial  of  the  second,  the  diocesan 
of  the  third,  the  metropolitan  of  the  fourth,  the  patriarchal 
of  the  fifth,  the  papal  of  the  middle  ages,  and  to  well-nigh 
all  these  forms  and  phases  in  modern  times:  surely  such 
an  episcopate,  adapted,  as  the  Lambeth  Declaration  reads, 
*'  to  the  ranging  needs  of  the  nations  and  peoples,"  is  com- 
plete and  inspiring  in  its  essential  worth — a  living  factor  to- 
day and  a  safe  criterion  for  the  future ;  a  desirable  method 
and  a  powerful  aid  for  the  reunion  of  Christendom. 


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CATALOGUE 


Commentaries. 

Matthew  Henry's  Commentary  on  the  Bible.    New  Large  Type 

Edition.     6  volumes,  boxed,  large  8vo,  cloth $15.00 

Half -morocco 18.00 

For  further  description  send  for  specimen  pages  and  circulars. 

It  is  surprising  that  in  this  labor-saving  and  time-saving  age 
the  ever  popular  Matthew  Henry's  Commentary  has  not  before 
been  issued  in  convenient  volumes.  Two  features  of  this  new 
edition  calls  for  special  attention :  First,  the  moderate  size  of  the 
volumes ;  second,  the  large  size  of  the  type  (larger  than  in  any 
previous  edition).  Other  features  are  the  excellent  printing  and 
substantial  binding. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  be  compared  with  old  Matthew 
Henry's  Commentary  for  pungent  and  practical  applications  of 
the  teachings  of  the  text." — The  Sunday  School  Times. 

Jamieson,  Faussett  and  Brown's  Popular  Commentary  on  the 

Old  and  New  Testament.     Critical,  Practical,  and  Explanatory. 

4  volumes,  boxed,  8vo,  cloth 8.00 

Half  morocco 10.00 

A  New  Edition*  containing  the  complete  unabridged  notes 
in  clear  type  on  good  paper.  With  copious  index,  numerous 
illustrations  and  maps,  and  dictionary  compiled  from  Dr. 
Smith's  standard  work. 

"  The  best  condensed  Commentary  on  the  whole  Bible.  It  is 
the  cream  of  the  commentaries  carefully  collected  by  three 
eminent  scholars.  Its  critical  introduction  to  each  book  of 
Scripture,  its  eminently  practical  notes,  its  numerous  pictorial 
illustrations,  commend  it  strongly  to  the  Sunday  School  worker 
and  to  the  clergyman.  Then  it  is  such  a  marvel  of  cheapness." 
—Rev.  J.  H.  Vincent,  D.D. 

C.  H.  M.  Notes  on  the  Pentateuch.  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus, 
Numbers,  Deuteronomy  (2  vols.).    i6mo,  cloth,  each  75c;  6  vols., 

boxed 4-5° 

"  Under  God  they  have  blessed  me  more  than  any  books  out- 
side of  the  Bible  itself  that  I  have  ever  read,  and  have  led  me  to  a 
love  of  the  Bible  that  is  proving  an  unfailing  source  of  profit." — 
Moj.  D.  W.  Whittle. 

The  Annotated  Paragraph  Bible.  New  and  Revised  Edition. 
A  Bible  and  a  Commentary  combined.     4to,  half-morocco,    7.00 

Gnomon  of  the  New  Testament.  By  John  Albert  Bengel.  Edited 
by  Blackley  and  Hawes,  and  with  an  introductior  by  Prof.  R. 
F.  Weidner.  D.D.  With  numerous  notes,  showing  the  results 
of  modern  criticism  and  exegesis.  3  volumes,  boxed,  i2mo, 
cloth  , 6.00 

Pocket  Commentary.     Compiled  from  Henry,  Sec  It,  and  others. 

i6mo.  cloth,  boxed 1.50 

Half-leather,  boxed 2.50 

Azores  on  the  Four  Gospels.  By  Rev.  Alfred  Barnes.  2  vols., 
i6mo,  cloth i-6o 

***  See  also  Spurgeon.  Introductory  Studies,  and  Text  Books. 


Christian  Evidences,  etc. 


Many  Infallible  Proofs.     The  Evidences  of   Christianity.     By 

Rev.  A.  T.  Pierson,  D.D.     12010.  paper,  net  35c;  cloth $1.00 

"  Only  a  man  of  wide  and  of  broad  sympathies,  and  one  who 
had  himself  come  up  out  of  a  conflict  with  doubts,  could  have  so 
completely  covered  the  whole  battlefield  of  unbelief,  meeting 
the  doubter  at  every  point  with  a  candor  that  captivates,  and  a 
logic  that  conquers." — The  Morning- Star. 

None   Like   It.      A  Plea  for  the  Old  Sword.    By  Rev.  Joseph 

Parker,  D.D.,  author  of  "  The  People's  Bible."     i2mo,  cloth  1.25 

A  defense  of  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Bible. 

"  The  spirit  of  the  work  is  as  sweet  as  its  blows  are  sturdy. 

This  volume  is  one  of  the  ablest  on  its  side  and  is  sound  in  its 

principles." —  The  Congregationalist. 

I  Believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty.     By  Rev.  John  Henry 

Barrows.  D.D       i6mo,  cloth,  gilt  top 1.00 

"  This  is  a  bright  and  strong  series  of  four  addresses  by  a 
bright  and  strong  man.  They  are  rich  in  illustration,  full  of 
pith,  and  right  to  the  point." — The  Independent. 

A  Lawyer's  Examination  of  ihe  Bible.     By  H.  H.  Russell. 

i2mo,  cloth 1. 00 

"  The  case  of  the  Bible  is  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to 
satisfy  the  demands  of  the  intellect  as  well  as  the  heart." — The 
N.  Y.  Observer. 

Atonement:    The  Fundamental  Fact  of  Christianity.    By  Rev. 

Newman  Hall,  D.D.      i2mo.  cloth ^5 

"  This  valuable  little  volume  will  do  much  to  assist  in  their 
study  of  (his  important  subject  those  who  may  not  have  access 
to  more  elaborate  works  or  leisure  for  the  study  of  them.  It  is  a 
book  which  cannot  have  too  large  a  circulation." — Christian 
Work. 

Unsettled  Questions  Touching  the  Foundations  of  Christianity. 

By  J.  M.  P.  Otts,  D.D.     i2mo,  cloth 1.00 

"The  author  recognizes  the  fact  that  young  men  are  some- 
times harassed  with  doubts  and  questions,  and  he  does  his  best 
to  dispel  the  first  and  to  answer  the  last.  The  simplicity  and 
force  of  his  reasoning  will  do  all  this  for  many  inquiring  minds." 
—  TheN.  Y.  Observer. 

The  Highest  Critics  vs.  The  Higher  Critics.     By  Rev.   L.  W. 

Munhall,  M.A.     i2mo,  cloth 1.00 

"The  appearance  of  this  volume  is  timely.  The  style  is 
plain  and  pointed,  and  the  argument  critical  and  cumulative. 
We  commend  it  to  all." — The  Religious  Telescope. 

The  Evidences  of  Christianity.  By  William  Paley,  D.D.  Edited 
by  Canon  Birks.  Introduction,  Notes,  and  Supplement.  i2mo, 
cloth 1.20 

Ten  Reasons  Why  I  Believe  the  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God.  By 
Rev.  R.  A.  Torrey.     i6mo,  paper 15 

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Addresses,  Sermons,  and  Essays. 

Essential  Christianity.  By  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes.  i2mo, 
cloth, $1.25 

Fully  sustains  the  reputation  of  this  famous  London 
preacher. 

Ten  Minute  Sermons.  By  Rev.  W.  Robertson  Nicoll,  D.D. 
i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top 1 .50 

Brilliant  sermonettes  by  the  editor  of  "  The  Expositor's 
Bible  " 

Three  Gates  on  a  Side,  and  Other  Sermons.     By  Rev.  Charles 

H.  Parkhurt.     i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top 1.25 

"  Dr.  Parkhurst  is  certainly  a  preacher  of  unusual  power, 
and  a  thinker  of  marked  originality."—  The  Churchman. 

The  Ideal  of  Humanity  in  the  Old  Times  and  New.  By  Prof. 
John  Stuart  Blackie,  author  of  "  On  Self  Culture."  i2mo, 
cloth 1.00 

"  Fresh,  forcible  and  practical.  Inclose  and  helpful  touch 
with  everyday  life."—  The  Congregationalist. 

Sermons  by  the  Rev.  John  McNeill.    Vols.  I.,  II.  and  III.,  each 

containing  26  Sermons.      i2mo,  cloth,  each 1.50 

"  The  Rev.  John  McNeill  has  a  firm  hold  of  Gospel  truth,  a 
clear  mind,  and  a  peculiar  and  graphic  method  of  expressing 
sound  convictions.'  —Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D. 

Twelve  Sermons  by  the  late  Eugene  Bersier,  D.D..  of  l'Eglise  de 
l'Etoile,  Paris.     Translated  by  Mrs.  Alexander  Waugh.     With 

portrait.     i2.mo,  cloth 1.25 

"We  have  read  these  sermons  with  very  great  delight. 
Bersier  was  a  preacher  of  eloquence,  force,  and  profit." — The 
Independent. 

Princeton  Sermons.  Chiefly  by  Professors  in  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminary,     iamo,  cloth 1.50 

The  contributors  are  President  Patten,  and  Professors  Green, 
Hodge,  Warfield,  Aiken,  Murray,  and  Davis. 

"Scholarly, vigorous,  and  practical."—  The  Congregationalist. 

"Coin  from  the  royal  mint  of  the  King  of  Heaven." — The 
N.  Y.  Observer. 

Pacific  Coast  Pulpit.  Sermons  by  Representative  Preachers  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.    With  17  portraits.     i2mo,  cloth 2.00 

Divine  Balustrades,  and  other  Sermons.  By  Rev.  R.  S.  Mac- 
Arthur,  D.D.     121110,  cloth 1.25 

"  Marked  by  mental  precision,  and  an  atmosphere  of  spirit- 
uality that  is  decidedly  refreshing."—  The  Golden  Rule. 

Sermons.     By  Rev.  John  A.  Boardus,  D.D.     i2mo,  cloth 1.00 

Baccalaureate  and  Other  Addresses.  By  Rev.  E.  A.  Tanner, 
D.D.,  late  President  of  Illinois  College.     i2mo,  cloth 1.50 

***  See  also  Moody,  Meyer,  Herron,  Stalker,  and  Sj>urgeon. 


Living  Papers. 


"  Well  made,  well  bound,  of  handy  size,  and  with  marginal 
titles,  they  are  admirably  adapted,  not  only  for  continuous  read- 
ing, but  for  reference.  The  topics  discussed  include  nearly  every 
vexed  question  of  the  day."— The  Evangelist. 

Living  Papers  on  Present  Day  Themes.  On  Subjects 
of  Christian  Evidence,  Doctrine  and  Morals.      10  vols., 

i2mo,  cloth,  each $i  .00 

The  set,  boxed i°-0° 

An  authorized  American  reprint  of  a  most  remarkable  col- 
lection of  sixty  papers  by  the  ablest  writers,  among  whom  are 
the  distinguished  authorities  mentioned  in  connection  with  tne 
single  volumes  named  below.  Complete  list  of  authors  and  sub- 
jects on  application. 

The  Argument  for  Christianity.  Being  Vol .  XI ,  "  Liv- 
ing Papers,"  By  Principal  Cairns,  Prof.  Blaikie  and  Rev. 
Drs.  Kaufman,  Lewis,  Chapman,  and  Slater.  12010, 
cloth l-°° 


SPECIAL    VOLUMES. 
Containing  papers  selected  from  the  "  Living  Papers  "  Series. 

The  Non-Christian  Religions  of  the  Age.     By  Sir  W. 

Muir,  Drs.  Legge,  Murray  Mitchell,  and  H.  B.  Reynolds. 
lafno,  cloth I0° 

Christ  the  Central  Evidence  of  Christianity,  and 
'  other  Papers.     By  Principal  Cairns.       i2mo,  cloth..    1.00 

The  Higher  Criticism.  By  the  Dean  of  Canterbury,  Dean 
Howson,  Principal  Wace,  and  Professors  Bruce  and 
Godet.       1 2mo,  cloth 1 .00 

Man  in  Relation  to  the  Bible  and  Christianity.  By 
Prebendary  Row,  Canon  Rawlinson,  Professors  Macalister, 
W.  G.  Blaikie,  Radford  Thomson,  F.  Pfaff,  S.  R.  Pattison, 
Sir  William  Dawson  and  Rev.  W.  S.  Lewis.  i2mo, 
cloth MO 

The  Non-Christian  Philosophies  of  the  Age.  By 
Professors  Blaikie,  Radford  Thomson,  Porter  and  Iverach, 
and  Rev.  W.  F.  Wilkinson.     i2mo,  cloth 1.4° 


Biographies. 


The  Life  of  Catherine  Booth,  the  Mother  of  the  Salvation  Army. 
By  F.  de  L.  Booth-Tucker.  With  19  full-page  plates  and  many 
other   illustrations.       2   vols.,    1340  pages,   royal   8vo,   cloth, 

boxed net,  $3.50 

"This  excellent  woman  did  more  to  save  erring  souls  than 
any  other  person  in  this  century." — The  New  York  Times. 

A  Memoir  of  Adolph  Saphir,  D.  D.  By  Rev.  Gavin  Carlyle, 
M.A.      With  photogravure   portrait.      Large   8vo,  cloth,  gilt 

top 2.25 

"The  volume  is  very  interesting,  and  by  it,  being  dead, 
Dr.  Saphir  will  speak  for  the  highest  and  noblest  conceptions  of 
the  work  of  the  ministry."—  The  Christian  Inquirer. 

The  Bells  of  Is;  or,  Voices  of  Human  Need  and  Sorrow.  Echoes 
from  my  early  pastorates.    Bv  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  B.A.    i2mo, 

cloth 75 

"  It  is  inspiring  to  read  these  accounts  related  in  Mr.  Meyer's 
inimitable  style,  and  infused  with  a  spirit  of  such  abounding 
faith  and  trust." — Christian  Work. 

The  Chronicles  of  the  Sid;  or,  The  Life  and  Travels  of  Adelia 
Gates.    By  Adela  E.  Orpen.      With  many  illustrations.     8vo, 

cloth 1.50 

"  A  refreshingly  cheerful  book.  ...  A  woman  of  origi- 
nal and  interesting  character."—  The  Outlook. 

Charles  H.  Spurgeon.      Second  Edition.      By  Rev.  J.  J.  Ellis,  a 

graduate  of  the  Pastor's  College.  With  portrait.  i2mo,  cloth,  1.00 

"  This  is  a  very  entertaining  biography  of  the  great  London 

preacher  and    makes   very   delightful  reading."—  The  N.    Y. 

Observer. 

John    Wesley.      By   Rev.  J.  J.  Ellis.      With  portrait.       i2mo, 

cloth 1.00 

"  Well  written,  and  shows  a  just  appreciation  on  the  part  of 
the  author  of  the  genius  of  the  great  spiritual  reformer."—  The 
Methodist  Recorder. 

Memoir  and  Remains  of  Rev.  Robert  Murray  M'Cheyne.  By 
Andrew  A.  Bonar,  D.D.    i2mo,  cloth 1.50 

Nineteen  Beautiful  Years ;  or,  Sketches  of  a  Girl's  Life.  By 
Frances  E.  Willard.  With  preface  by  John  G.  Whittier,  and 
portrait.    New  and  Revised  Edition.     121110,  cloth 75 

Mary  Mortimer,  A  True  Teacher.  A  memoir.  By  Minerva  Brace 
Norton.    With  portrait.    8vo,  cloth net,  1.50 

Eliza  Chappell  Porter.  A  memoir.  By  Mary  H.  Porter.  8vo, 
cloth net,  1.75 

Samuel  Chapman  Armstrong.    Founders  Day  Address,  Hamp- 
ton Institute,  1894.    By  Robert  C.  Ogden.    i2mo,  half-cloth,    .35 
"  In  the  death  of  Gen.  Armstrong  the  negro  race  lost  a  faith- 
ful friend,   and  Christianity  one  of   its  best  exemplars."—  The 
Philadelphia  Call. 

"World's  Benefactors**  Series.  Lives  of  Livingstone,  Spur- 
geon, Stanley,  Nightingale,  Wycliffe  and  Luther,  Faraday,  and 
Gladstone.    7  vols.,  illustrated.      i2mo,  cloth,  each 75 

***  See  also  Missions  and  Missionary  Biographies. 


Date  Due 

• 

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I 

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